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RUSSIAN    RAMBLES 


BY 


ISABEL  F.  HAPGOOD 

o 

AUTHOR   OF   "  THE   EPIC  SONGS   OF   RUSSIA  " 


BOSTON    AND    NEW   YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN   AND   COMPANY 


1895 


<b6  J> 


Copyright,  1895, 
BY  ISABEL  F.  HAPGOOD. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  0.  Houghton  and  Company. 


» 

K 

i 


TO 

RUSSIA  AND  MY  RUSSIAN  FRIENDS 

I  DEDICATE  THESE  NOTES  OF  MY  SOJOURN  WITH  THEM. 
THEY  MAY  BEST  ASSURED  THAT,  THOUGH  MANY  OP 
MY  MOST  CHERISHED  EXPERIENCES  ARE  NOT  RECORDED 
IN  THESE  PAGES,  THEY  REMAIN  UNFORGOTTEN,  DEEPLY 
IMPRINTED  ON  MY  HEART. 


978S5S 


PREFACE. 

THE  innumerable  questions  which  have  been  put 
to  me  since  my  return  to  America  have  called  to  my 
attention  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of  all  that  has  been 
written  about  Russia,  the  common  incidents  of  every- 
day life  are  not  known,  or  are  known  so  imperfectly 
that  any  statement  of  them  is  a  travesty.  I  may  cite, 
as  an  example,  a  book  published  within  the  past  two 
years,  and  much  praised  in  America  by  the  indis- 
criminating  as  a  truthful  picture  of  life.  The  whole 
story  hung  upon  the  great  musical  talent  of  the 
youthful  hero.  The  hero  skated  to  church  through 
the  streets,  gazed  down  the  long  aisle  where  the  wor- 
shipers were  assembled  (presumably  in  pews),  as- 
cended to  the  organ  gallery,  sang  an  impromptu  solo 
with  trills  and  embellishments,  was  taken  in  hand 
by  the  enraptured  organist  who  had  played  there  for 
thirty  years,  and  developed  into  a  great  composer. 
Omitting  a  mass  of  other  absurdities  scattered 
through  the  book,  I  will  criticise  this  crucial  point. 
There  are  no  organs  or  organists  in  Russia  ;  there 
are  no  pews,  or  aisles,  or  galleries  for  the  choir,  and 
there  are  never  any  trills  or  embellishments  in  the 
church  music.  A  boy  could  skate  to  church  in  New 
York  more  readily  than  in  Moscow,  where  such  a 


vi  PREFACE. 

thing  was  never  seen,  and  where  they  are  not  edu- 
cated up  to  roller  skates.  Lastly,  as  the  church 
specified,  St.  Vasily,  consists  of  a  nest  of  small 
churches  connected  by  narrow,  labyrinthine  cor- 
ridors, and  is  approached  from  the  street  up  two 
flights  of  low-ceiled  stairs,  it  is  an  impossibility  that 
the  boy  should  have  viewed  the  "aisle"  and  assem- 
bled congregation  from  his  skates  at  the  door.  That 
is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  distortions  of  facts  which  I 
am  constantly  encountering. 

It  has  seemed  to  me  that  there  is  room  for  a  book 
which  shall  impart  an  idea  of  a  few  of  the  ordinary 
conditions  of  life  and  of  the  characters  of  the  inhab- 
itants, illustrated  by  apposite  anecdotes  from  my 
personal  experience.  For  this  purpose,  a  collection 
of  detached  pictures  is  better  than  a  continuous  nar- 
rative of  travel. 

I  am  told  that  I  must  abuse  Russia,  if  I  wish  to 
be  popular  in  America.  Why,  is  more  than  I  or  my 
i  Russian  friends  can  understand.  Perhaps  it  arises 
from  the  peculiar  fact  that  people  find  it  more  inter- 
esting to  hear  bad  things  of  their  neighbors  than 
good,  and  the  person  who  furnishes  startling  tales 
is  considered  better  company  than  the  humdrum 
truth-teller  or  the  charitably  disposed. 

The  truth  is,  that  people  too  frequently  go  to 
Russia  with  the  deliberate  expectation  and  intention 
1  of  seeing  queer  things.  That  they  do  frequently  con- 
trive to  see  queer  things,  I  admit.  Countess  X.  Z., 
who  in  appearance  and  command  of  the  language 


PREFACE.  vn 

could  not  have  been  distinguished  from  an  English- 
woman, related  to  me  a  pertinent  anecdote  when 
we  were  discussing  this  subject.  She  chanced  to 
travel  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Moscow  in  a  com- 
partment of  the  railway  carriage  with  two  Ameri- 
cans. The  latter  told  her  that  they  had  been  much 
shocked  to  meet  a  peasant  on  the  NeVsky  Prospe*kt, 
holding  in  his  hand  a  live  chicken,  from  which  he  was 
taking  occasional  bites,  feathers  and  all.  That  they 
saw  nothing  of  the  sort  is  positive ;  but  what  they 
did  see  which  could  have  been  so  ingeniously  dis- 
torted was  more  than  the  combined  powers  of  the 
countess  and  myself  were  equal  to  guessing. 

The  general  idea  of  foreign  visitors  seems  to  be 
that  they  shall  find  the  Russia  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  I  am  sure  that  the  Russia  of  Ivan  the 
Terrible's  time,  a  century  earlier,  would  precisely 
meet  their  views.  They  find  the  reality  decidedly 
tame  in  comparison,  and  feel  bound  to  supply  the 
missing  spice.  A  trip  to  the  heart  of  Africa  would, 
I  am  convinced,  approach  much  nearer  to  the  ideal 
of  "  adventure  "  generally  cherished.  The  traveler 
to  Africa  and  to  Russia  is  equally  bound  to  narrate 
marvels  of  his  "  experiences  "  and  of  the  customs  of 
the  natives. 

But,  in  order  to  do  justice  to  any  foreign  country, 
the  traveler  must  see  people  and  customs  not  with 
the  eyes  of  his  body  only,  but  with  the  eyes  of  his 
heart,  if  he  would  really  understand  them.  Above 
all  things,  he  must  not  deliberately  buckle  on  blind- 


viii  PREFACE. 

ers.  Of  no  country  is  this  axiom  more  true  than  of 
Russia.  A  man  who  would  see  Russia  clearly  must 
strip  himself  of  all  preconceived  prejudices  of  re- 
ligion, race,  and  language,  and  study  the  people  from 
their  own  point  of  view.  If  he  goes  about  repeat- 
ing Napoleon  I.'s  famous  saying,  "  Scratch  a  Russian 
and  you  will  find  a  Tatar,"  he  will  simply  betray  his 
own  ignorance  of  history  and  facts. 

In  order  to  understand  matters,  a  knowledge  of 
the  language  is  indispensable  in  any  country.  Nat- 
urally, very  few  possess  this  knowledge  in  Russia, 
where  it  is  most  indispensable  of  all.  There  are 
guides,  but  they  are  a  lottery  at  best :  Russians  who 
know  very  little  English,  English  who  know  very 
little  Russian,  or  Germans  who  are  impartially  igno- 
rant of  both,  and  earn  their  fees  by  relating  fables 
about  the  imperial  family  and  things  in  general, 
when  they  are  not  candidly  saying,  "  I  don't  know." 
I  saw  more  or  less  of  that  in  the  case  of  other  peo- 
ple's guides;  I  had  none  of  my  own,  though  they 
came  to  me  and  begged  the  privilege  of  taking  me 
about  gratuitously  if  I  would  recommend  them.  I 
heard  of  it  from  Russians.  An  ideal  cicerone,  one 
of  the  attendants  in  the  Moscow  Historical  Museum, 
complained  to  me  on  this  subject,  and  rewarded  me 
for  sparing  him  the  infliction  by  getting  permission 
to  take  us  to  rooms  which  were  not  open  to  the  pub- 
lic, where  the  director  himself  did  the  honors  for  us. 
Sometimes  travelers  dispense  with  the  guides,  as 
well  as  with  a  knowledge  of  the  language,  but  if 


PREFACE.  ix 

they  have  a  talent  for  pronouncing  what  are  called, 
I  believe,  "  snap  judgments,"  that  does  not  prevent 
their  fulfilling,  on  their  return  home,  their  tacitly 
implied  duty  of  uttering  in  print  a  final  verdict  on 
everything  from  soup  to  government. 

If  the  traveler  be  unusually  lucky,  he  may  make 
acquaintance  on  a  steamer  with  a  Russian  who  can 
talk  English,  and  who  can  and  will  give  him  authen- 
tic information.  These  three  conditions  are  not  al- 
ways united  in  one  person.  Moreover,  a  stranger 
cannot  judge  whether  his  Russian  is  a  representa- 
tive man  or  not,  what  is  his  position  in  the  social 
hierarchy,  and  what  are  his  opportunities  for  know- 
ing whereof  he  speaks.  "  Do  you  suppose  that  God, 
who  knows  all  things,  does  not  know  our  table  of 
ranks  ?  "  asks  an  arrogant  General  in  one  of  the  old 
Russian  comedies.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  Lord 
does  know  that  remarkable  Jacob's  ladder  which 
conducts  to  the  heaven  of  high  public  place  and  the 
good  things  of  life,  and  whose  every  rung  is  labeled 
with  some  appetizing  title  and  privilege.  But  a 
newly  arrived  foreigner  cannot  know  it,  or  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  three  greater,  distinct  classes  into  which 
the  people  are  divided. 

Russians  have  become  so  used  to  hearing  and  read- 
ing remarkable  statements  about  themselves  that 
they  only  smile  indulgently  at  each  fresh  specimen 
of  ill-will  or  ignorance.  They  keep  themselves  posted 
on  what  is  said  of  them,  and  frequently  quote  choice 
passages  for  the  amusement  of  foreigners  who  know 


x  PREFACE. 

better,  but  never  when  they  would  be  forced  to  con- 
descend to  explanation.  Alexander  Dumas,  Senior, 
once  wrote  a  book  on  Russia,  which  is  a  fruitful 
source  of  hilarity  in  that  country  yet,  and  a  fair 
sample  of  such  performances.  To  quote  but  one 
illustration,  —  he  described  halting  to  rest  under  the 
shade  of  a  great  Tclitikva  tree.  The  klitikva  is  the  tiny 
Russian  cranberry,  and  grows  accordingly.  Another 
French  author  quite  recently  contributed  an  item  of 
information  which  Russians  have  adopted  as  a  char- 
acteristic bit  of  ignorance  and  erected  into  .a  standard 
jest.  He  asserted  that  every  village  in  Russia  has  its 
own  gallows,  on  which  it  hangs  its  own  criminals 
off-hand.  As  the  death  penalty  is  practically  abolished 
in  Russia,  except  for  high  treason,  which  is  not  tried 
in  villages,  the  Russians  are  at  a  loss  to  explain 
what  the  writer  can  have  mistaken  for  a  gallows. 
There  are  two  "  guesses  "  current  as  to  his  meaning : 
the  two  uprights  and  cross-beam  of  the  village 
swing ;  or  the  upright,  surmounted  by  a  cross-board, 
on  which  is  inscribed  the  number  of  inhabitants  in 
the  village.  Most  people  favor  the  former  theory, 
but  consider  it  a  pity  that  he  has  not  distinctly 
pointed  to  the  latter  by  stating  that  the  figures  there 
inscribed  represent  the  number  of  persons  hanged. 
That  would  have  rendered  the  tale  bloodthirsty,  in- 
teresting, absolutely  perfect,  —  from  a  foreign  point 
of  view. 

I   have    not   attempted   to  analyze   the  "  compli- 
cated "  national  character.     Indeed,  I  am  not  sure 


.      PREFACE.  xi 

that  it  is  complicated.  Russians  of  all  classes,  from 
the  peasant  up,  possess  a  naturally  simple,  sympa- 
thetic disposition  and  manner,  as  a  rule,  tinged  with 
a  friendly  warmth  whose  influence  is  felt  as  soon  as 
one  crosses  the  frontier.  Shall  I  be  believed  if  I 
say  that  I  found  it  in  custom-house  officers  and  gen- 
darmes ?  For  the  rest,  characters  vary  quite  as  much 
as  they  do  elsewhere.  It  is  a  question  of  individuals, 
in  character  and  morals,  and  it  is  dangerous  to  in- 
dulge in  generalizations.  My  one  generalization  is 
that  they  are,  as  a  nation,  too  long-suffering  and 
lenient  in  certain  directions,  that  they  allow  too  much 
personal  independence  in  certain  things. 

If  I  succeed  in  dispelling  some  of  the  absurd  ideas 
which  are  now  current  about  Russia,  I  shall  be  con-  ] 
tent.     If  I  win   a   little  comprehension  and  kindly  ' 
sympathy  for  them,  I  shall  be  more  than  content. 

ISABEL  F.  HAPGOOD. 
NEW  YORK,  January  1,  1895. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

I.  PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE  IN  RUSSIA  .        .  1 

II.  THE  NEVSKY  PROSP£KT 22 

III.  MY  EXPERIENCE  WITH  THE  RUSSIAN  CENSOR        .        .  61 

IV.  BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA 77 

V.  EXPERIENCES 91 

VI.  A  RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT 101 

VII.  A  STROLL  IN  Moscow  WITH  COUNT  TOLSTOY        .        .  134 

VIII.  COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME 148 

IX.  A  RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY 203 

X.  A  JOURNEY  ON  THE  VOLGA 235 

XI.  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS  CURE 288 

XII.  Moscow  MEMORIES 311 

XIII.  THE  NfzHNi-NovGOROD  FAIR  AND  THE  VOLGA             .  330 


RUSSIAN  RAMBLES. 


I. 

PASSPORTS,   POLICE,   AND 

WE  imported  into  Russia,  untaxed,  undiscovered 
by  the  custom-house  officials,  a  goodly  stock  of  mis- 
advice,  misinformation,  apprehensions,  and  preju- 
dices, like  most  foreigners,  albeit  we  were  unusually 
well  informed,  and  confident  that  we  \%ere  correctly 
posted  on  the  grand  outlines  of  Russian  life,  at  least. 
We  were  forced  to  begin  very  promptly  the  invol- 
untary process  of  getting  rid  of  them.  Our  anxiety 
began  in  Berlin.  We  visited  the  Russian  consul- 
general  there  to  get  our  passports  visSd.  He  said, 
"  You  should  have  got  the  signature  of  the  Ameri- 
can consul.  Do  that,  and  return  here." 

At  that  moment,  the  door  leading  from  his  office 
to  his  drawing-room  opened,  and  his  wife  made  her 
appearance  on  the  threshold,  with  the  emphatic  query, 
44  When  are  you  coming  ?" 

"  Immediately,  my  dear,"  he  replied.  "  Just  wait 
a  moment,  until  I  get  rid  of  these  Americans." 

Then  he  decided  to  rid  himself  of  us  for  good. 
"I  will  assume  the  responsibility  for  you,"  he  said, 
affixed  his  signature  on  the  spot,  to  spare  himself  a 
second  visit,  and,  collecting  his  fees,  bowed  us  out. 
I  suppose  he  argued  that  we  should  have  known  the 


2       PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE. 

ropes  and  attended  to  all  details  accurately,  in  order 
to  ward  off  suspicion,  had  we  been  suspicious  char- 
acters. How  could  he  know  that  the  Americans 
understood  Russian,  and  that  this  plain  act  of  "  get- 
ting rid  "  of  us  would  weigh  on  our  minds  all  the 
way  to  the  Russian  frontier? 

At  Wirballen  the  police  evoked  a  throb  of  grati- 
tude, from;  our;  relieved  hearts.  No  one  seemed  to 
sutspect  that  the  American  government  owned  a  con- 
^ul/iA^JJevlitijwho.vould  write  his  name  on  our  huge 
'parchments, '  w'rii'cn  'contrasted  so  strongly  with  the 
compact  little  documents  from  other  lands. 

"  Which  are  your  passports  ?  "  asked  the  tall  gen- 
darme who  guarded  the  door  of  the  restaurant,  as 
we  passed  out  to  take  our  seats  in  the  Russian  train. 

"  The  biggest,"  I  replied,  without  mentioning 
names,  and  he  handed  them  over  with  a  grin.  No 
fuss  over  passports  or  custom-house,  though  we  had 
carefully  provided  cause  !  This  was  beginning  badly, 
and  we  were  disappointed  at  our  tame  experience. 

On  our  arrival  in  St.  Petersburg,  we  were  not 
even  asked  for  our  passports.  Curiosity  became  rest- 
less within  us.  Was  there  some  sinister  motive  in 
this  neglect,  after  the  harrowing  tales  we  had  heard 
from  a  woman  lecturer,  and  read  in  books  which  had 
actually  got  themselves  printed,  about  gendarmes 
forcing  themselves  into  people's  rooms  while  they 
were  dressing,  demanding  their  passports,  and  set- 
ting a  guard  at  their  doors;  after  which,  gendarmes 
in  disguises  (which  they  were  clever  enough  to  pen- 
etrate) followed  them  all  over  the  country?  Why 
was  it  thus  with  them,  and  not  with  us  ?  The  why 
ripened  gradually.  We  inquired  if  the  passports 
were  not  wanted. 


PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE.       3 

"  No  ;  if  you  intend  to  remain  only  a  few  days,  it 
is  not  worth  while  to  register  them,"  was  the  start- 
ling reply  ;  and  those  wretched,  unwieldy  parchments 
remained  in  our  possession,  even  after  we  had  an- 
nounced that  we  did  not  meditate  departing  for  some 
time.  I  hesitate  to  set  down  the  whole  truth  about 
the  anxiety  they  cost  us  for  a  while.  How  many 
innocent  officers,  in  crack  regiments  (as  we  discov- 
ered when  we  learned  the  uniforms),  in  search  of  a 
breakfast  or  a  dinner,  did  we  not  take  for  the  police 
upon  our  tracks,  in  search  of  those  concealed  docu- 
ments !  Our  excitement  was  ministered  to  by  the 
Tatar  waiters,  who,  not  having  knowledge  of  our 
nationality,  mistook  us  for  English  people,  and 
wrecked  our  nerves  by  making  our  tea  as  strong  and 
black  as  beer,  with  a  view  to  large  "  tea-money  "  for 
this  delicate  attention  to  our  insular  tastes. 

If  no  one  wanted  those  documents,  what  were  we  to 
do  with  them  ?  Wear  them  as  breastplates  (folded), 
or  as  garments  (full  size)  ?  No  pocket  of  any  sex 
would  tolerate  them,  and  we  had  been  given  to 
understand  by  veracious  (?)  travelers  that  it  was  as 
much  as  our  lives  were  worth  to  be  separated  from 
them  for  a  single  moment.  At  the  end  of  a  week  we 
forced  the  hotel  to  take  charge  of  them.  They  were 
registered,  and  immediately  thrown  back  on  our 
hands.  Then  we  built  lean-tos  on  our  petticoats  to 
hold  them,  and  carried  them  about  until  they  looked 
aged  and  crumpled  and  almost  frayed,  like  ancestral 
parchments.  We  even  slept  with  them  under  our 
pillows.  At  last  we  also  were  nearly  worn  out,  and 
we  tossed  those  Sindbad  passports  into  a  drawer, 
then  into  a  trunk.  There  they  remained  for  three 
months ;  and  when  they  were  demanded,  we  had  to 


4       PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE. 

undertake  a  serious  search,  so  completely  had  their 
existence  and  whereabouts  been  lost  to  our  lightened 
spirits.  In  the  mean  time  we  had  grasped  the  ele- 
mentary fact  that  they  would  be  required  only  on  a 
change  of  domicile.  By  dint  of  experience  we  learned 
various  other  facts,  which  I  may  as  well  summarize 
at  once. 

The  legal  price  of  registration  is  twenty  kopeks 
(about  ten  cents),  the  value  of  the  stamp.  But 
hotel  and  lodging-house  keepers  never  set  it  down  in 
one's  bill  at  less  than  double  that  amount.  It  often 
rises  to  four  or  five  times  the  legal  charge,  according 
to  the  elegance  of  the  rooms  which  one  occupies,  and 
also  according  to  the  daring  of  the  landlord.  In  one 
house  in  Moscow,  they  even  tried  to  make  us  pay 
again  on  leaving.  We  refused,  and  as  we  already  had 
possession  of  the  passports,  which,  they  pretended, 
required  a  second  registry,  they  could  do  nothing. 
This  abuse  of  overcharging  for  passport  registration 
on  the  part  of  landlords  seems  to  have  been  general. 
It  became  so  serious  that  the  Argus-eyed  prefect  of 
St.  Petersburg,  General  Gresser  (now  deceased), 
issued  an  order  that  no  more  than  the  law  allowed 
should  be  exacted  from  lodgers.  I  presume,  how- 
ever, that  all  persons  who  could  not  read  Russian,  or 
who  did  not  chance  to  notice  this  regulation,  con- 
tinued to  contribute  to  the  pockets  of  landlords,  since 
human  nature  is  very  much  alike  everywhere,  in  cer- 
tain professions.  I  had  no  occasion  to  test  the  point 
personally,  as  the  law  was  issued  just  previous  to  my 
departure  from  the  country. 

The  passport  law  seems  to  be  interpreted  by  each 
man  for  himself  in  other  respects,  also.  In  some 
places,  we  found  that  we  could  stay  overnight  quite 


PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE.       5 

informally;  at  others,  our  passports  were  required. 
Once  we  spent  an  entire  month  incognito.  At  Ka- 
zan, our  balcony  commanded  a  full  view  of  the  police 
department  of  registry,  directly  opposite.  The  land- 
lord sniffed  disdainfully  at  the  mention  of  our  pass- 
ports, and  I  am  sure  that  we  should  not  have  been 
asked  for  them  at  all,  had  not  one  of  the  officials,  who 
chanced  to  be  less  wilted  by  the  intense  heat  than  his 
fellows, —  they  had  been  gazing  lazily  at  us,  singly 
and  in  battalions,  in  the  intervals  of  their  rigorous 
idleness,  for  the  last  four  and  twenty  hours, — sud- 
denly taken  a  languid  interest  in  us  about  one  hour 
before  our  departure.  The  landlord  said  he  was 
"  simply  ridiculous."  On  another  occasion,  a  waiter 
in  a  hotel  recognized  the  Russians  who  were  with  us 
as  neighbors  of  his  former  master  in  the  days  of 
serfdom.  He  suggested  that  he  would  arrange  not 
to  have  our  passports  called  for  at  all,  since  they 
might  be  kept  overtime,  and  our  departure  would 
thus  be  delayed,  and  we  be  incommoded.  Only  one 
of  our  friends  had  even  taken  the  trouble  to  bring  a 
"  document ;  "  but  the  whole  party  spent  three  days 
under  the  protection  of  this  ex-serf.  Of  course,  we 
bespoke  his  attendance  for  ourselves,  and  remembered 
that  little  circumstance  in  his  "tea-money."  This 
practice  of  detaining  passports  arbitrarily,  from  which 
the  ex-serf  was  protecting  us,  prevails  in  some  locali- 
ties, judging  from  the  uproar  about  it  in  the  Russian 
newspapers.  It  is  contrary  to  the  law,  and  can  be 
resisted  by  travelers  who  have  time,  courage,  and  de- 
termination. It  appears  to  be  a  device  of  the  land- 
lords at  watering  places  and  summer  resorts  gen- 
erally, who  desire  to  detain  guests.  I  doubt  whether 
the  police  have  anything  to  do  with  it.  What  we 


6       PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE. 

paid  the  ex-serf  for  was,  practically,  protection  against 
his  employer. 

Our  one  experience  of  this  device  was  coupled  with, 
a  good  deal  of  amusement,  and  initiated  us  into  some 
of  the  laws  of  the  Russian  post-office  as  well.  To  be- 
gin my  story  intelligibly,  I  must  premise  that  no  Rus- 
sian could  ever  pronounce  or  spell  our  name  correctly 
unaided.  A  worse  name  to  put  on  a  Russian  official 
document,  with  its  ^Tand  its  double  0,  never  was  in- 
vented !  There  is  no  letter  -h  in  the  Russian  alpha- 
bet, and  it  is  customary  to  supply  the  deficiency  with 
the  letter^,  leaving  the  utterer  to  his  fate  as  to  which 
of  the  two  legitimate  sounds — the  foreign  or  the 
native  —  he  is  to  produce.  It  affords  a  test  of  culti- 
vation parallel  to  that  involved  in  giving  a  man  a 
knife  and  fork  with  a  piece  of  pie,  and  observing 
which  he  uses.  That  is  the  American  shibboleth. 
Lomon6soff,  the  famous  founder  of  Russian  literary 
language  in  the  last  century,  wrote  a  long  rhymed 
strophe,  containing  a  mass  of  words  in  which  the  g 
occurs  legitimately  and  illegitimately,  and  wound  up 
by  wailing  out  the  query,  "  Who  can  emerge  from 
the  crucial  test  of  pronouncing  all  these  correctly, 
on  impeached?"  That  is  the  Russian  shibboleth. 

As  a  result  of  this  peculiarity,  our  passports  came 
back  from  each  trip  to  the  police  office  indorsed  with 
a  brand-new  version  of  our  name.  We  figured  under 
Gepgud,  Gapgod,  Gabgot,  and  a  number  of  other 
disguises,  all  because  they  persisted  in  spelling  by 
the  eye,  and  would  not  accept  my  perfect  phonetic- 
version.  The  same  process  applied  to  the  English 
name  Wylie  has  resulted  in  the  manufacture  of  Vil- 
lie.  And  the  pleasant  jest  of  it  all  was  that  we 
never  troubled  ourselves  to  sort  our  passports,  because, 


PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE.       1 

although  there  existed  not  the  slightest  family  resem- 
blance even  between  my  mother  and  myself,  we  looked 
exactly  alike  in  those  veracious  mirrors.  This  ex- 
plained to  our  dull  comprehension  how  the  stories 
of  people  using  stolen  passports  could  be  true.  How- 
ever, the  Russians  were  not  to  blame  for  this  partic- 
ular absurdity.  It  was  the  fault  of  the  officials  in 
America. 

On  the  occasion  to  which  I  refer,  we  had  gone  out 
of  St.  Petersburg,  and  had  left  a  written  order  for 
the  post-office  authorities  to  forward  our  mail  to  our 
new  address.  The  bank  officials,  who  should  cer- 
tainly have  known  better,  had  said  that  this  would 
be  sufficient,  and  had  even  prepared  the  form,  on 
their  stamped  paper,  for  our  signature.  Ten  days 
elapsed ;  no  letters  came.  Then  the  form  was  re- 
turned, with  orders  to  get  our  signatures  certified  to 
by  the  chief  of  police  or  the  police  captain  of  our  dis- 
trict !  When  we  recovered  from  our  momentary 
vexation,  we  perceived  that  this  was  an  excellent 
safeguard.  I  set  out  for  the  house  of  the  chief  of 
police. 

His  orderly  said  he  was  not  at  home,  but  would 
be  there  at  eleven  o'clock.  I  took  a  little  look  into 
the  church,  —  my  infallible  receipt  for  employing 
spare  moments  profitably,  which  has  taught  me  many 
things.  At  eleven  o'clock  the  chief  was  still  "  not 
at  home."  I  decided  that  this  was  in  an  "  official " 
sense  only,  when  I  caught  sight  of  a  woman  survey- 
ing me  cautiously  through  the  crack  of  the  opposite 
door  to  the  antechamber.  I  immediately  jumped  to 
the  conclusion  that  a  woman  calling  upon  a  chief  of 
police  was  regarded  as  a  suspicious  character ;  and 
rightly,  after  various  shooting  incidents  in  St.  Peters- 


8       PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE. 

burg.  My  suspicions  were  confirmed  by  my  memory 
of  the  fact  that  I  had  been  told  that  the  prefect  of 
St.  Petersburg  was  "  not  at  home  "  in  business  hours, 
though  his  gray  lambskin  cap  —  the  only  one  in 
town  —  was  lying  before  me  at  the  time.  But  I  also 
recollected  that  when  I  had  made  use  of  that  cap  as 
a  desk,  on  which  to  write  my  request,  to  the  horror 
of  the  orderly,  and  had  gone  home,  the  prefect  had 
sent  a  gendarme  to  do  what  I  wanted.  Accordingly, 
I  told  this  orderly  my  business  in  a  loud,  clear  voice. 
The  crack  of  the  door  widened  as  I  proceeded,  and 
at  my  last  word  I  was  invited  into  the  chief's  study 
by  the  orderly,  who  had  been  signaled  to. 

The  chief  turned  out  to  be  a  polished  and  amiable 
baron,  with  a  German  name,  who  was  eager  to  ren- 
der any  service,  but  who  had  never  come  into  colli- 
sion with  that  post-office  regulation  before.  I  re- 
marked that  I  regretted  not  being  able  to  certify  to 
ourselves  with  our  passports,  as  they  had  not  been 
returned  to  us.  He  declared  that  the  passports  were 
quite  unnecessary  as  a  means  of  identification ;  my 
word  was  sufficient.  But  he  flew  into  a  rage  over 
the  detention  of  the  passports.  That  something  de- 
cidedly vigorous  took  place  over  those  papers,  and 
that  the  landlord  of  our  hotel  was  to  blame,  it  was 
easy  enough  to  gather  from  the  meek  air  and  the 
apologies  with  which  they  were  handed  to  us,  a 
couple  of  hours  later.  The  chief  dispatched  his  or- 
derly on  the  spot  with  my  post-office  petition.  Dur- 
ing the  man's  absence,  the  chief  brought  in  and  in- 
troduced to  me  his  wife,  his  children,  and  his  dogs, 
and  showed  me  over  his  house  and  garden.  We  were 
on  very  good  terms  by  the  time  the  orderly  returned 
with  the  signature  of  the  prefect  (who  had  never 


PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE.       9 

seen  us)  certifying  to  our  signatures,  on  faith.  The 
baron  sealed  the  petition  for  me  with  his  biggest  coat 
of  arms,  and  posted  it,  and  the  letters  came  promptly 
and  regularly.  Thereafter,  for  the  space  of  our  four 
months'  stay  in  the  place,  the  baron  and  I  saluted 
when  we  met.  We  even  exchanged  "  shakehands," 
as  foreigners  call  the  operation,  and  the  compliments 
of  the  day,  in  church,  when  the  baron  escorted  roy- 
alty. I  think  he  was  a  Lutheran,  and  went  to  that 
church  when  etiquette  did  not  require  his  presence 
at  the  Russian  services,  where  I  was  always  to  be 
found. 

As,  during  those  four  months,  I  obtained  several 
very  special  privileges  which  required  the  prefect's 
signature,  —  as  foreigners  were  by  no  means  com- 
mon residents  there,  —  and  as  I  had  become  so  well 
known  by  sight  to  most  of  the  police  force  of  the 
town  that  they  saluted  me  when  I  passed,  and  their 
dogs  wagged  their  tails  at  me  and  begged  for  a 
caress,  I  imagined  that  I  was  properly  introduced  to 
the  authorities,  and  that  they  could  lay  hands  upon 
me  at  any  moment  when  the  necessity  for  so  doing 
should  become  apparent.  Nevertheless,  one  friend, 
having  applied  to  the  police  for  my  address,  spent 
two  whole  days  in  finding  me,  at  haphazard.  After 
a  residence  of  three  months,  other  friends  appealed 
in  vain  to  the  police;  then  obtained  from  the  pre- 
fect, who  had  certified  to  us,  the  information  that  no 
such  persons  lived  in  the  town,  the  only  foreigners 
there  being  two  sisters  named  Genrut !  With  this 
lucid  clue  our  friends  cleverly  found  us.  Those  who 
understand  Russian  script  will  be  able  to  unravel 
the  process  by  which  we  were  thus  disguised  and 
lost.  We  had  been  lost  before  that  in  St.  Peters- 


10     PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE. 

burg,  and  we  recognized  the  situation,  with  varia- 
tions, at  a  glance.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  real 
practical  directory  in  Russian  cities.  When  one's 
passport  is  vis^d  by  the  police,  the  name  and  infor- 
mation therein  set  forth  are  copied  on  a  large  sheet 
of  paper,  and  this  document  takes  its  place  among 
many  thousand  others,  on  the  thick  wire  files  of  the 
Address  Office.  I  went  there  once.  That  was 
enough  in  every  way.  It  lingers  in  my  mind  as  the 
darkest,  dirtiest,  worst-ventilated,  most  depressing 
place  I  saw  in  Russia. 

If  one  wishes  to  obtain  the  address  of  any  person, 
he  goes  or  sends  to  this  Address  Office,  fills  out  a 
blank,  for  which  he  pays  a  couple  of  kopeks,  and, 
after  patient  waiting  for  the  over-busy  officials  to 
search  the  big  files,  he  receives  a  written  reply,  with 
which  he  must  content  himself.  The  difficulty,  in 
general,  about  this  system  lies  here  :  one  must  know 
the  exact  Christian  name,  patronymic,  and  surname 
of  the  person  wanted,  and  how  to  spell  them  cor- 
rectly (according  to  police  lights).  One  must  also 
know  the  exact  occupation  of  the  person,  if  he  be 
not  a  noble  living  on  his  income,  without  business  or 
official  position.  Otherwise,  the  attempt  to  find  any 
one  is  a  harder  task  than  finding  the  proverbial 
needle  in  a  haystack.  A  person  who  had  been  asked 
to  call  upon  us,  and  who  afterward  became  a  valued 
friend,  tried  three  times  in  vain  to  find  us  by  this 
means,  and  was  informed  that  we  did  not  exist. 
•This  was  owing  to  some  eccentricity  in  the  official 
spelling  of  our  name.  An  application  to  the  Ameri- 
can Legation,  as  a  desperate  final  resort,  served  the 
purpose  at  last.  The  same  thing  happened  when 
the  telegraph  messenger  tried  to  find  us,  to  deliver 


PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE.     11 

an  important  cablegram.  Still,  in  spite  of  this  ex- 
perience, I  always  regarded  my  passport  as  an  impor- 
tant means  of  protection.  In  case  of  accident,  one 
could  be  traced  by  it.  A  traveler's  passport  once 
registered  at  the  police  office,  the  landlord  or  lodging- 
house  keeper  is  responsible  for  the  life  of  his  guest. 
If  the  landlord  have  any  bandit  propensities,  this 
serves  as  a  check  upon  them,  since  he  is  bound  to 
produce  the  person,  or  to  say  what  has  become  of 
him.  In  the  same  way,  when  one  is  traveling  by 
iinperiaLpost  carriage,  the  postilion  must  deliver  his 
passenger  safe  and  sound  at  the  next  post  station, 
or  be  promptly  arrested.  The  passport  serves  here 
as  a  sort  of  waybill  for  the  human  freight.  When  a 
foreigner's  passport  is  registered  for  the  first  time, 
he  receives  permission  to  remain  six  months  in  the 
country.  At  the  expiration  of  that  period,  on  formal 
application,  a  fresh  permit  is  issued,  which  must  be 
paid  for,  and  which  covers  one  year.  This  takes  the 
form  of  a  special  document,  attached  to  the  foreign 
passport  with  cord  and  sealing-wax ;  and  attached  to 
it,  in  turn,  is  a  penalty  for  cutting  the  cord  or  tam- 
pering with  the  official  seal.  These  acts  must  be 
done  by  the  proper  officials.  I  thought  it  might  be 
interesting  to  attend  to  securing  this  special  permit 
myself  instead  of  sending  the  dvtirnik  (the  yard 
porter),  whose  duties  comprise  as  many  odds  and 
ends  as  those  of  the  prime  minister  of  an  empire. 

At  the  office  I  was  questioned  concerning  my  reli- 
gion and  my  occupation,  which  had  not  been  in- 
quired into  previously.  The  question  about  religion 
was  a  mere  formality,  as  they  care  nothing  for  one's 
creed.  I  stated,  in  reply  to  the  last  question,  that  I 
was  merely  "  a  traveler." 


12     PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE. 

"  Don't  say  that ;  it 's  too  expensive,"  returned 
the  official,  in  a  friendly  way. 

"  To  whom  ?     How  ?  "  I  asked. 

"To  you,  of  course.  A  traveler,  as  a  person  of 
leisure,  pays  a  huge  tax." 

"  Call  me  a  literary  person,  then,  if  you  like." 

"  That 's  not  an  occupation  !  "  (Observe  the  deli- 
cate, unconscious  sarcasm  of  this  rejoinder  !  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  Russian  idea  of  literary  men  is 
that  they  all  hold  some  government  or  other  appoint- 
ment, on  the  committee  of  censorship,  for  example, 
—  some  ratable  position.  Upon  this  they  can  de- 
pend for  a  livelihood,  aside  from  the  product  of  their 
brains  ;  which  is  practical,  and  affords  a  firm  founda- 
tion upon  which  to  execute  caprices.) 

He  suggested  various  things  which  I  was  not,  and 
I  declined  to  accept  his  suggestions.  We  got  it  set- 
tled at  last,  though  he  shook  his  head  over  my  ex- 
travagant obstinacy  in  paying  two  dollars,  when  I 
might  have  got  off  with  half  the  sum  and  a  lie.  He 
imparted  a  good  deal  of  amusing  information  as  to 
the  manner  in  which  people  deliberately  evade  the 
passport  tax  with  false  statements ;  for  example, 
governesses,  who  would  scorn  to  be  treated  as  nurses, 
get  themselves  described  as  bonnes  to  save  money. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  the  authorities  amiably  assist 
them  by  friendly  suggestions,  as  in  my  own  case  ; 
only  I  decline  to  sail  under  false  colors,  by  the  au- 
thority of  my  own  government  or  any  other  ;  so  his 
amiability  was  wasted  so  far  as  I  was  concerned. 

It  would  seem  to  the  ordinary  reader  that  the 
police  would  be  able  to  lay  hands  on  a  man,  when  he 
was  wanted,  with  tolerable  promptness  and  accuracy, 
after  all  the  details  which  the  law  requires  in  these 


PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE.     13 

"  address  tickets,"  as  the  local  passports  are  called, 
had  been  duly  furnished.  But  I  remember  one  case 
among  several  which  impressed  me  as  instructive 
and  amusing.  The  newspapers  told  the  tale,  which 
ran  somewhat  as  follows :  A  wealthy  woman  of  posi- 
tion, residing  in  one  of  the  best  quarters  of  St.  Peters- 
burg, hired  a  prepossessing  young  lackey  as  one  of 
her  large  staff  of  domestics.  Shortly  after  his  ad- 
vent, many  articles  of  value  began  to  disappear. 
Finally,  suspicion  having  turned  on  this  lackey,  he 
also  disappeared,  and  the  police  undertook  to  find 
him.  It  then  became  apparent  that  the  fellow  had 
used  a  fake  passport  and  address,  and  was  not  to  be 
found  where  he  was  inscribed.  He  caused  an  excit- 
ing chase.  This  ended  in  the  discovery  of  a  regular 
robbers*  nest,  where  a  large  number  of  false  pass- 
ports were  captured,  the  prepossessing  lackey  and  his 
friends  having  abandoned  them  in  their  attempt  to 
escape.  The  papers  were  also  constantly  remarking 
on  the  use  made  by  peasant  men  of  their  passports. 
The  wife  is  inscribed  on  the  husband's  "  document," 
separate  passports  for  wives  being,  as  a  rule,  difficult 
of  attainment  in  the  lower  classes.  The  peasants  are 
thus  able,  and  often  willing,  to  control  their  wives' 
places  of  residence  and  movements,  and  preserve  en- 
tire liberty  of  action  for  themselves,  since  their  con- 
sent is  required  for  the  separate  passport,  or  for  the 
wives'  movements  on  the  common  passport.  In  such 
cases  the  passport  does  become  an  instrument  of  op- 
pression, from  either  the  Occidental  or  the  Oriental 
point  of  view. 

As  for  the  stories  told  by  travelers  of  officious 
meddling  by  the  police  on  their  arrival  in  Russia,   ' 
and  of  their  footsteps  being  dogged,  I  have  recently   ' 


14     PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE. 

been  favored  with  some  light  on  that  subject.  I  be- 
lieve the  tales,  with  reservations,  since  some  perfectly 
innocent  and  truthful  friends  of  mine  related  to  me 
their  own  similar  experience.  A  man,  who  seemed 
to  their  inexperienced  eyes  to  be  a  police  officer,  told 
them  that  the  authorities  thought  three  weeks,  one 
in  Petersburg  and  two  elsewhere,  would  be  amply 
sufficient  for  their  travels  in  Russia.  They  had  a 
high-priced  French  courier,  who  pretended  to  know 
a  little  Russian.  Perhaps  he  did  know  enough  for 
his  own  purposes.  He  told  them  that  they  were 
watched  constantly,  and  translated  for  the  officer. 
But  he  did  not  tell  them  that  they  already  had  per- 
mission to  remain  in  the  country  for  the  customary 
six  months.  I  made  them  get  out  their  passports, 
and  showed  them  the  official  stamp  and  signature  to 
that  effect.  This  clever  courier  afterward  stole  from 
them,  in  Warsaw,  a  quantity  of  diamonds  which  he 
had  helped  them  to  purchase  in  Moscow,  and  of  whose 
existence  and  whereabouts  in  their  trunks  no  one  but 
himself  was  aware.  This  helped  me  to  an  explana- 
tion. It  is  invariably  the  couriers  or  guides,  I  find, 
who  tell  travelers  these  alarming  tales,  and  neglect 
to  inform  them  of  their  rights.  It  certainly  looks 
very  much  as  if  some  confederate  of  theirs  imper- 
sonates a  police  official,  and  as  if  they  misinterpret. 
The  stories  of  spies  forever  in  attendance  seem  to 
be  manufactured  for  the  purpose  of  extorting  hand- 
some gratuities  from  their  victims  for  their  "pro- 
tection," and  for  the  purpose  of  frightening  the 
latter  out  of  the  country  before  their  own  ignorance 
is  discovered.  As  I  never  employed  the  guides,  I 
never  had  any  trouble  with  the  police,  either  genuine 
or  manufactured.  I  visited  the  police  stations  when- 


PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE.     15 

ever  I  could  make  an  excuse  ;  and  when  I  wished  to 
know  when  and  where  the  Emperor  was  to  be  seen, 
I  asked  a  policeman  or  a  gendarme.  He  always  told 
me  the  exact  truth  unhesitatingly,  and  pointed  out 
the  best  position.  It  was  refreshing  after  the  Ger- 
man police,  who  put  one  through  the  Inquisition  as 
to  one's  self  and  one's  ancestors  as  soon  as  one  ar- 
rives, and  who  prove  themselves  lineal  descendants 
of  Ananias  or  Baron  Munchausen  when  a  traveler 
asks  for  information. 

When  we  wished  to  leave  the  country,  I  again 
usurped  the  dvdrnik's  duties,  and  paid  another  visit 
to  the  passport  office,  to  inspect  its  workings.  Our 
Russian  passports  were  clipped  out,  and  little  books 
were  given  us,  which  constituted  our  permission  to 
leave  Russia  at  any  time  within  the  next  three 
months,  by  any  route  we  pleased,  without  further 
ceremony.  These  booklets  contained  information  re- 
lating to  the  tax  imposed  on  Russians  for  absenting 
themselves  from  their  country  for  various  periods,  the 
custom-house  regulations  which  forbid  the  entry,  duty 
free,  of  more  than  one  fur  cloak,  cap,  and  muff  to 
each  person,  etc.,  since  these  books  form  return  pass- 
ports for  Russians,  though  we  surrendered  ours  at 
the  frontier.  As  the  hotel  clerk  or  porter  attends  to 
all  passport  details,  few  foreigners  see  the  inside  of 
the  office,  or  hear  the  catechisms  which  are  conducted 
there,  as  I  did.  It  is  vulgar,  it  smacks  of  commercial 
life,  to  go  one's  self.  Apathy  and  lack  of  interest  can 
always  be  relied  upon  to  brand  one  as  aristocratic. 
In  this  case,  however,  as  in  many  others,  I  considered 
myself  repaid  for  following  Poor  Richard's  advice  : 
"  If  you  want  a  thing  done,  do  it  yourself ;  if  not, 
send  !  " 


16      PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE. 

To  sum  up  the  passport  question  :  If  his  passport 
is  in  order,  the  traveler  need  never  entertain  the 
slightest  apprehension  for  a  single  moment,  despite 
«  sensational  tales  to  the  contrary,  and  it  will  serve 
f  as  a  safeguard.  If,  for  any  good  reason,  his  pass- 
port cannot  be  put  in  order,  the  traveler  will  do  well 
to  keep  out  of  Russia,  or  any  other  country  which 
requires  such  documents.  In  truth,  although  we  do 
not  require  them  in  this  country,  America  would  be 
better  off  if  all  people  who  cannot  undergo  a  passport 
scrutiny,  and  a  German,  not  a  Russian,  passport 
examination,  were  excluded  from  it. 

I  have  mentioned  the  post-office  in  connection  with 
our  passports.  Subsequently,  I  had  several  entertain- 
ing interviews  with  the  police  and  others  on  that 
point.  One  Sunday  afternoon,  in  Moscow,  we  went 
to  the  police  station  of  our  quarter  to  get  our  change- 
of-address  petition  to  the  post-office  authorities  signed. 
There  was  nothing  of  interest  about  the  shabby  build- 
ing or  the  rooms,  on  this  occasion.  The  single  officer 
on  duty  informed  us  that  he  was  empowered  to  at- 
tend only  to  cases  of  drunkenness,  breaches  of  the 
peace,  and  the  like.  We  must  return  on  Monday, 
he  declared. 

"  No,"  said  I.  "  Why  make  us  waste  all  that  time 
in  beautiful  Moscow  ?  Here  are  our  passports  to 
identify  us.  Will  you  please  to  tell  the  captain,  as 
soon  as  he  arrives  to-morrow  morning,  that  we  are 
genuine,  and  request  him  to  sign  this  petition  and 
post  it  ?  " 

The  officer  courteously  declined  to  look  at  the  pass- 
ports, said  that  my  word  was  sufficient,  and  accepted 
my  commission.  Then,  rising,  drawing  himself  up, 
with  the  heels  of  his  high  wrinkled  boots  in  regula- 


PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE.     17 

tion  contact,  and  the  scarlet  pipings  of  his  baggy  green 
trousers  and  tight  coat  bristling  with  martial  eti- 
quette, he  made  me  a  profound  bow,  hand  on  heart, 
and  said  :  "  Madam,  accept  the  thanks  of  Russia  for 
the  high  honor  you  have  done  her  in  learning  her 
difficult  language  !  " 

I  accepted  Russia's  thanks  with  due  pomp,  and 
hastened  into  the  street.  That  small,  low-roofed  sta- 
tion house  seemed  to  be  getting  too  contracted  to  con- 
tain all  of  us  and  etiquette. 

Again,  upon  another  occasion,  also  in  Moscow,  it 
struck  us  that  it  would  be  a  happy  idea  and  a  clever 
economy  of  time  to  get  ourselves  certified  to  before 
our  departure,  instead  of  after  our  arrival  in  St.  Pe- 
tersburg. Accordingly,  we  betook  ourselves,  in  a 
violent  snowstorm,  to  the  police  station  inside  the 
walls  of  the  old  city,  as  we  had  changed  our  hotel, 
and  that  was  now  our  quarter. 

A  vision  of  cells ;  of  unconfined  prisoners  tran- 
quilly executing  hasty  repairs  on  their  clothing,  with 
twine  or  something  similar,  in  the  anteroom  ;  of  a 
complete  police  hierarchy,  running  through  all  the 
gradations  of  pattern  in  gold  and  silver  embroidery 
to  the  plain  uniform  of  the  roundsman,  gladdened  our 
sight  while  we  waited.  A  gorgeous  silver-laced  offi- 
cial finally  certified  our  identity,  as  usual  without 
other  proof  than  our  statement,  and,  clapping  a  five- 
kopek  stamp  on  our  paper,  bowed  us  out.  I  had 
never  seen  a  stamp  on  such  a  document  before,  and 
had  never  been  asked  to  pay  anything ;  but  I  re- 
strained my  natural  eagerness  to  reimburse  the  gov- 
ernment and  ask  questions,  with  the  idea  that  it  might 
have  been  a  purely  mechanical  action  on  the  part  of 
the  officer,  and  in  the  hope  of  developments.  They 


18     PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE. 

came.  A  couple  of  hours  later,  a  messenger  entered 
our  room  at  the  hotel,  without  knocking,  in  Russian 
lower-class  style,  and  demanded  thirty  kopeks  for  the 
signature.  I  offered  to  pay  for  the  stamp  on  the 
spot,  and  supply  the  remaining  twenty-five  kopeks 
when  furnished  with  an  adequate  reason  therefor. 

"  Is  the  captain's  signature  worth  so  much  ?  "  I 
asked. 

"  That  is  very  little,"  was  the  answer. 

"  So  it  is.  Is  the  captain's  signature  worth  so 
little?  Tell  me  why." 

He  could  not,  or  would  not. 

I  made  him  wait  while  I  wrote  a  petition  to  the 
police.  The  burden  of  it  was :  "  Why  ?  I  was  born 
an  American  and  curious;  not  too  curious,  but  just 
curious  enough  to  be  interested  in  the  ethnographical 
and  psychological  problems  of  foreign  lands.  Why 
the  twenty-five  kopeks?  It  is  plainly  too  little  or 
too  much.  Why  ?  " 

The  messenger  accepted  the  five  kopeks  for  the 
stamp,  and  set  out  to  deliver  the  document.  But  he 
returned  after  a  moment,  and  said  that  he  would  in- 
trust the  five  kopeks  to  my  safe-keeping  until  he 
brought  the  answer  to  my  document,  —  which  he  had 
had  just  sufficient  time  to  read,  by  the  way.  That 
was  the  last  I  ever  heard  of  him  or  of  it,  and  I  was 
forced  to  conclude  that  some  thirsty  soul  had  been 
in  quest  of  "  tea-money  "  for  v6dka.  I  am  still  in 
debt  to  the  Russian  government  for  five  kopeks. 

The  last  time  I  arrived  in  Petersburg,  I  tried  a 
new  plan.  Instead  of  making  a  trip  of  a  couple  of 
miles  to  get  the  signature  of  our  police  captain,  or 
sending  the  petition  at  the  languid  convenience  of 
the  overworked  dvtimik,  I  went  to  the  general  post- 


POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE.      19 

oil'icv,  which  was  close  by,  and  made  a  personal  re- 
quest that  my  mail  matter  be  delivered  at  my  new 
address.  The  proper  official,  whom  I  found  after  a 
search  through  most  of  the  building,  during  which  I 
observed  their  methods,  declared  that  my  request 
was  illegal,  and  ordered  me  to  go  for  the  customary 
signature.  But  by  this  time  I  had  learned  that 
the  mere  threat  to  make  Russian  officials  inspect 
my  passport  was  productive  of  much  the  same  effect 
as  drawing  a  pistol  on  them  would  have  had.  It 
was  not  in  the  least  necessary  to  have  the  document 
with'  me  ;  going  through  the  motions  was  easier,  and 
quite  as  good.  Every  man  of  them  flushed  up,  and 
repelled  the  suggestion  as  a  sort  of  personal  insult ; 
but  they  invariably  came  to  terms  on  the  spot.  Ac- 
cordingly, I  tried  it  here. 

This  particular  man,  when  I  pretended  to  draw 
my  "  open  sesame  "  spell  from  my  pocket,  instantly 
dropped  his  official  air,  asked  me  to  write  my  name, 
with  quite  a  human,  friendly  manner,  and  then  re- 
marked, with  a  very  every-day  laugh,  "  That  is  suffi- 
cient. I  have  seen  so  much  of  it  on  your  previous 
petitions  that  I  can  swear  to  it  myself  much  better 
than  the  police  captain  could." 

As  an  offset  to  my  anecdotes  about  our  being  lost 
through  inability  to  riddle  out  our  name  on  the  part 
of  the  police,  I  must  relate  an  instance  where  the 
post-office  displayed  remarkable  powers  of  divination. 
One  day  I  received  an  official  notification  from  the 
post-office  that  there  was  a  misdirected  parcel  for  me 
from  Moscow,  lying  in  the  proper  office,  —  would  I 
please  to  call  for  it  ?  I  called.  The  address  on  the 
parcel  was  "  Madame  Argot,"  I  was  informed,  but  I 
must  get  myself  certified  to  before  I  could  receive  it. 


20     PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE. 

"But  how  am  I  to  do  that?  I  am  not  Madame 
Argot.  Are  you  sure  the  parcel  is  for  me?  " 

"  Perfectly.  It 's  your  affair  to  get  the  certifi- 
cate." 

I  went  to  the  police  station,  one  which  I  had  not 
visited  before,  and  stated  the  case. 

"  Go  home  and  send  the  dv6rnik,  as  is  proper," 
replied  the  captain  loftily. 

I  argued  the  matter,  after  my  usual  fashion,  and 
at  last  he  affixed  his  signature  to  my  document,  with 
the  encouraging  remark  :  "  Well,  even  with  this  you 
won't  get  that  parcel,  because  the  name  is  not 
yours." 

"  Trust  me  for  that,"  I  retorted.  "  As  they  are 
clever  enough  to  know  that  it  is  for  me,  they  will 
be  clever  enough  to  give  it  to  me,  or  I  will  persuade 
them  that  they  are." 

Back  I  went  to  the  post-office.  I  had  never  been 
in  that  department  previously,  I  may  mention.  Then 
I  was  shown  a  box,  and  asked  if  I  expected  it,  and 
from  whom  it  came.  I  asserted  utter  ignorance ; 
but,  as  I  took  it  in  my  hand,  I  heard  a  rattling,  and 
it  suddenly  flashed  across  my  mind  that  it  might  be 
the  proofs  of  some  photographs  which  the  Moscow 
artist  had  "hurried"  through  in  one  month.  The 
amiable  post-office  "  blindman,"  who  had  riddled  out 
the  address,  was  quite  willing  to  give  me  the  parcel 
without  further  ado,  but  I  said :  — 

"  Open  it,  and  you  will  soon  see  whether  it  really 
belongs  to  me." 

After  much  protestation  he  did  so,  and  then  we 
exchanged  lavish  compliments,  —  he  on  the  capital 
likenesses  and  the  skill  of  the  artist ;  I  on  the  stu- 
pidity of  the  man  who  could  evolve  Argot  out  of  my 


PASSPORTS,  POLICE,  AND  POST-OFFICE.     21 

legibly  engraved  visiting-card,  and  on  the  cleverness 
of  the  man  who  could  translate  that  name  back  into 
its  original  form. 

The  most  prominent  instance  of  minute  thought- 
fulness  and  care  on  the  part  of  the  post-office  officials 
which  came  -under  my  notice  occurred  in  the  depths 
of  the  country.  I  sent  a  letter  with  a  ten-kopek 
stamp  on  it  to  the  post  town,  twelve  versts  distant. 
Foreign  postage  had  been  raised  from  seven  to  ten 
kopeks,  and  stamps,  in  a  new  design,  of  the  latter 
denomination  (hitherto  non-existent)  had  been  in  use 
for  about  four  months.  The  country  postmaster,  who 
had  seen  nothing  but  the  old  issues,  carefully  removed 
my  stamp  and  sent  it  back  to  me,  replacing  it  with  a 
seven-kopek  stamp  and  a  three-kopek  stamp.  I  felt, 
for  a  moment,  as  though  I  had  been  both  highly  com- 
plimented and  gently  rebuked  for  my  remarkable 
skill  in  counterfeiting ! 

As  a  parallel  case,  I  may  add  that  there  were  plenty 
of  intelligent  people  in  New  York  city  and  elsewhere 
who  were  not  aware  that  the  United  States  still 
issued  three-cent  stamps,  or  who  could  tell  the  color 
of  them,  until  the  Columbian  set  appeared  to  attract 
their  attention. 


II. 

THE  NEVSKY   PKOSPEKT. 

THE  Ndvsky  Prospe'kt ! 

From  the  time  when,  as  children,  we  first  encoun- 
ter the  words,  in  geographical  compilations  disguised 
as  books  of  travel,  what  visions  do  they  not  summon 
up  !  Visions  of  the  realm  of  the  Frost  King  and  of 
his  Regent,  the  White  Tzar,  as  fantastic  as  any  of 
those  narrated  of  tropic  climes  by  Scheherezade,  and 
with  which  we  are  far  more  familiar  than  we  are 
with  the  history  of  our  native  land. 

When  we  attain  to  the  reality  of  our  visions,  in 
point  of  locality  at  least,  we  find  a  definite  starting- 
point  ready  to  our  hand,  where  veracious  legend  and 
more  veracious  history  are  satisfactorily  blended. 
It  is  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  famous  broad 
avenue,  —  which  is  the  meaning  of  Prospekt.  Here, 
on  the  bank  of  the  Neva,  tradition  alleges  that  Alex- 
ander, Prince  of  Novgorod,  won  his  great  battle  — 
and,  incidentally,  his  surname  of  Nevsky  and  his 
post  of  patron  saint  of  Russia  —  over  the  united 
forces  of  the  Swedes  and  oppressive  Knights  of  the 
Teutonic  Order,  in  the  year  1240. 

Nearly  five  hundred  years  later,  the  spot  was  occu- 
pied by  Rhitiowa,  one  of  the  forty  Finnish  villages 
scattered  over  the  present  site  of  St.  Petersburg,  as 
designated  by  the  maps  of  the  Swedes,  whom  Peter 
the  Great  —  practically  Russia's  second  patron  saint 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  23 

—  expelled  anew  when  he  captured  their  thriving 
commercial  town,  on  the  shore  of  the  Neva,  directly 
opposite,  now  known  as  Malaya  Okhta,  possessed  of 
extensive  foreign  trade,  and  of  a  church  older  than 
the  capital,  which  recently  celebrated  its  two-hun- 
dredth anniversary. 

It  was  in  1710  that  Peter  I.  named  the  place 
"  Victory,"  in  honor  of  Prince-Saint  Alexander  Nev- 
sky's  conquest,  and  commanded  the  erection  of  a 
Lavra,  or  first-class  monastery,  the  seat  of  a  Metro- 
politan and  of  a  theological  seminary.  By  1716  the 
monastery  was  completed,  in  wood,  as  engravings  of 
that  day  show  us,  but  in  a  very  different  form  from 
the  complex  of  stone  buildings  of  the  present  day. 
Its  principal  facade,  with  extensive,  stiffly  arranged 
gardens,  faced  upon  the  river,  —  the  only  means 
of  communication  in  that  town,  planted  on  a  bog, 
threaded  with  marshy  streams,  being  by  boat.  In 
fact,  for  a  long  time  horses  were  so  scarce  in  the 
infant  capital,  where  reindeer  were  used  in  sledges 
even  as  late  as  the  end  of  the  last  century,  that  no  one 
was  permitted  to  come  to  Court,  during  Peter  the 
Great's  reign,  otherwise  than  by  water.  Necessity 
and  the  enforced  cultivation  of  aquatic  habits  in  his 
inland  subjects,  which  the  enterprising  Emperor  had 
so  much  at  heart,  combined  to  counsel  this  regulation. 

The  bones  of  Prince  Alexander  were  brought  to  St. 
Petersburg,  from  their  resting-place  in  the  Vladimir 
Government,  in  1724,  Peter  the  Great  occupying 
his  favorite  post  as  pilot  and  steersman  in  the  saint's 
state  barge,  and  they  now  repose  in  the  monastery 
cathedral,  under  a  canopy,  and  in  a  tomb  of  silver, 
3600  pounds  in  weight,  given  by  Peter's  daughter, 
the  devout  Empress  Elizabeth.  In  the  cemetery  sur- 


24  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

rounding  the  cathedral,  under  the  fragrant  firs  and 
birches,  with  the  blue  Neva  rippling  far  below,  lie 
many  of  the  men  who  have  contributed  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  their  country  in  literature,  art,  and 
science,  during  the  last  two  centuries. 

Of  all  the  historical  memories  connected  with  this 
monastery  none  is  more  curious  than  that  relating  to 
the  second  funeral  of  Peter  III.  He  had  been  buried 
by  his  wife,  in  1762,  with  much  simplicity,  in  one 
of  the  many  churches  of  the  Lavra,  which  contains 
the  family  tombs  and  monuments  not  only  of  mem- 
bers of  the  imperial  family,  but  of  the  noble  fami- 
lies most  illustrious  in  the  eighteenth  century.  When 
Paul  I.  came  to  the  throne,  in  1796,  his  first  care 
was  to  give  his  long-deceased  father  a  more  fitting 
burial.  The  body  was  exhumed.  Surrounded  by 
his  court,  Pavel  Petrovitch  took  the  imperial  crown 
from  the  altar,  placed  it  on  his  own  head,  then  laid 
it  reverently  on  his  father's  coffin.  When  Peter  III. 
was  transferred  immediately  afterward,  with  magni- 
ficent ceremonial,  to  the  Winter  Palace,  there  to  lie 
in  state  by  the  side  of  his  wife,  Katherine  II.,  and 
to  accompany  her  to  his  proper  resting-place  among 
the  sovereigns  of  Russia,  in  the  cathedral  of  the 
Peter-Paul  fortress,  Count  Alexel  Grigore'vitch  Orloff 
was  appointed,  with  fine  irony,  to  carry  the  crown 
before  his  former  master,  whom  he  had  betrayed, 
and  in  the  necessity  for  whose  first  funeral  he  had 
played  the  part  of  Fate.  It  was  with  considerable 
difficulty  that  he  was  hunted  up,  while  Emperor  and 
pageant  waited,  in  the  obscure  corner  where  he  was 
sobbing  and  weeping ;  and  with  still  greater  diffi- 
culty was  he  finally  persuaded  to  perform  the  task 
assigned  to  him  in  the  procession. 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  25 

Outside  the  vast  monastery,  which,  like  most  Rus- 
sian monasteries,  resembles  a  fortress,  though,  unlike 
most  of  them,  it  has  never  served  as  such,  the  scene 
is  almost  rural.  Pigeons,  those  symbols  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  inviolable  in  Russia,  attack  with  impunity 
the  grain  bags  in  the  acres  of  storehouses  opposite, 
pick  holes,  and  eat  their  fill  undisturbed. 

From  this  spot  to  the  slight  curve  in  the  Prospe'kt, 
at  the  Znamenskaya  Square,  a  distance  of  about  a 
mile,  where  the  Moscow  railway  station  is  situated, 
and  where  the  train  of  steam  tram-cars  is  superseded 
by  less  terrifying  horse-cars,  the  whole  aspect  of  the 
avenue  is  that  of  a  provincial  town,  in  the  character 
of  the  people  and  the  buildings,  even  to  the  favorite 
crushed  strawberry  and  azure  washes,  and  green  iron 
roofs  on  the  countrified  shops.  Here  and  there,  not 
very  far  away,  a  log-house  may  even  be  espied. 

During  the  next  three  quarters  of  a  mile  the 
houses  and  shops  are  more  city-like,  and,  being 
newer  than  those  beyond,  are  more  ornamented  as 
to  the  stucco  of  their  windows  and  doors.  Here,  as 
elsewhere  in  this  stoneless  land,  with  rare  exceptions, 
the  buildings  are  of  brick  or  rubble,  stuccoed  and 
washed,  generally  in  light  yellow,  with  walls  three 
feet  or  more  apart,  warmly  filled  in,  and  ventilated 
through  the  hermetically  sealed  windows  by  ample 
panes  in  the  centre  of  the  sashes,  or  by  apertures  in 
the  string-courses  between  stories,  which  open  into 
each  room.  Shops  below,  apartments  above,  this  is 
the  nearly  invariable  rule. 

It  is  only  when  we  reach  the  Anitchkoff  Bridge, 
with  its  graceful  railing  of  sea-horses,  adorned  with 
four  colossal  bronze  groups  of  horse-tamers,  from  the 
hand  of  the  Russian  sculptor,  Baron  Klodt,  that  the 
really  characteristic  part  of  the  Nevsky  begins. 


26  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  fifty  years  ago  this 
spot  was  the  end  of  the  Petersburg  world.  But  at 
that  epoch  the  Nevsky  was  decorated  with  rows  of 
fine  large  trees,  which  have  now  disappeared  to 
the  last  twig.  The  Fontanka  River,  or  canal,  over 
which  we  stand,  offers  the  best  of  the  many  illustra- 
tions of  the  manner  in  which  Peter  the  Great,  with 
his  ardent  love  of  water  and  Dutch  ways,  and  his 
worthy  successors  have  turned  natural  disadvantages 
into  advantages  and  objects  of  beauty.  The  Fon- 
tanka was  the  largest  of  the  numerous  marshy  rivers 
in  that  Arctic  bog  selected  by  Peter  I.  for  his  new 
capital,  which  have  been  deepened,  widened,  faced 
with  cut  granite  walls,  and  utilized  as  means  of 
cheap  communication  between  distant  parts  of  the 
city,  and  as  relief  channels  for  the  inundating  waves 
of  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  which  rise,  more  or  less, 
every  year,  from  August  to  November,  at  the  behest 
of  the  southwest  gale.  That  this  last  precaution  is 
not  superfluous  is  shown  by  the  iron  flood-mark  set 
into  the  wall  of  the  Anitchkoff  Palace,  on  the  south- 
ern shore  of  the  Fontanka,  as  on  so  many  other  pub- 
lic buildings  in  the  city,  with  "1824"  appended, — 
the  date  of  one  celebrated  and  disastrous  inundation 
which  attained  in  some  places  the  height  of  thir- 
teen feet  and  seven  inches.  This  particular  river 
derived  its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  was  trained 
to  carry  water  and  feed  the  fountains  in  Peter  the 
Great's  favorite  Summer  Garden,  of  which  only  one 
now  remains. 

At  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and  even  later, 
persons  out  of  favor  at  Court,  or  nobles  who  had 
committed  misdemeanors,  were  banished  to  the 
southern  shores  of  the  Fontdnka,  as  to  a  foreign 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  27 

land.  Among  the  amusements  at  the  ddtchas,  —  the 
wooden  country  houses,  —  in  the  wilder  recesses  of 
the  vast  parks  which  studded  both  shores,  the  chase 
after  wild  animals,  and  from  bandits,  played  a  promi- 
nent part. 

The  stretch  which  we  have  traversed  on  our  way 
from  the  monastery,  and  which  is  punctuated  at  the 
corner  of  the  canal  and  the  Prospekt  by  the  pleasing 
brick  and  granite  palace  of  the  Emperor's  brother, 
Grand  Duke  Sergiei  Alexandrovitch,  which  formerly 
belonged  to  Prince  Byelose'lsky-Byeloze'rsky,  was  the 
suburb  belonging  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Anitchkoff, 
who  built  the  first  bridge,  of  wood,  in  1715.  As 
late  as  the  reign  of  Alexander  I.,  all  persons  entering 
the  town  were  required  to  inscribe  their  names  in  the 
register  kept  at  the  barrier  placed  at  this  bridge. 
Some  roguish  fellows  having  conspired  to  cast  ridi- 
cule on  this  custom,  by  writing  absurd  names,  the 
guards  were  instructed  to  make  an  example  of  the 
next  jester  whose  name  should  strike  them  as  suspi- 
cious. Fate  willed  that  the  imperial  comptroller, 
Baltazar  Baltazarovitch  Kampenhausen,  with  his  Rus- 
sianized German  name,  should  fall  a  victim  to  this 
order,  and  he  was  detained  until  his  fantastic  cogno- 
men, so  harsh  to  Slavic  ears,  could  be  investigated. 

By  day  or  by  night,  in  winter  or  summer,  it  is  a 
pure  delight  to  stand  on  the  Anitchkoff  Bridge  and 
survey  the  scene  on  either  hand.  If  we  gaze  to  the 
north  toward  what  is  one  of  the  oldest  parts  settled 
on  the  rivulet-riddled  so-called  "  mainland,"  in  this 
Northern  Venice,  we  see  the  long,  plain  fagade  of 
the  Katherine  Institute  for  the  education  of  the 
daughters  of  officers,  originally  built  by  Peter  the 
Great  for  his  daughter  Anna,  as  the  "  Italian  Pal- 


28  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

ace,"  but  used  only  for  the  palace  servants,  until  it 
was  built  over  and  converted  to  its  present  purpose. 
Beyond,  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  yellow  wings  of 
Count  ScheremetiefFs  ancient  house  and  its  great 
iron  railing,  behind  which,  in  a  spacious  courtyard, 
after  the  Moscow  fashion  so  rare  in  thrifty  Peters- 
burg, the  main  building  lies  invisible  to  us.  If  we 
look  to  the  south,  we  find  the  long  ochre  mass  of  the 
Anitchkoff  Palace,  facing  on  the  Ne*vsky,  upon  the 
right  shore  ;  on  the  left,  beyond  the  palace  of  Sergie*i 
Alexandrovitch,  the  branch  of  the  Alexander  NeV- 
sky  Monastery,  in  old  Russian  style,  with  highly 
colored  saints  and  heads  of  seraphim  on  the  outer 
walls ;  and  a  perspective  of  light,  stuccoed  building, 
-  dwellings,  markets,  churches,  —  until  the  eye 
halts  with  pleasure  on  the  distant  blue  dome  of  the 
Troitzky  cathedral,  studded  with  golden  stars.  In- 
deed, it  is  difficult  to  discover  a  vista  in  St.  Peters- 
burg which  does  not  charm  us  with  a  glimpse  of  one 
or  more  of  these  cross-crowned  domes,  floating,  bub- 
ble-like, in  the  pale  azure  of  the  sky.  Though  they 
are  far  from  being  as  beautiful  in  form  or  coloring 
as  those  of  Moscow,  they  satisfy  us  at  the  moment. 

If  it  is  on  a  winter  night  that  we  take  up  our 
stand  here,  we  may  catch  a  distant  glimpse  of  the 
numerous  "  skating-gardens,"  laid  out  upon  the  ice 
cleared  on  the  snowy  surface  of  the  canal.  The  ice- 
hills  will  be  black  with  forms  flitting  swiftly  down 
the  shining  roads  on  sledges  or  skates,  illuminated  by 
the  electric  light ;  a  band  will  be  braying  blithely, 
regardless  of  the  piercing  cold,  and  the  skaters  will 
dance  on,  in  their  fancy-dress  ball  or  prize  races,  or 
otherwise,  clad  so  thinly  as  to  amaze  the  shivering 
foreigner  as  he  hugs  his  furs. 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  29 

By  day  the  teamsters  stand  upon  the  quay,  with 
rough  aprons  over  their  ballet  -  skirted  sheepskin 
coats,  waiting  for  a  job.  If  we  hire  one  of  them,  we 
shall  find  that  they  all  belong  to  the  ancient  Russian 
Artdl,  or  Labor  Union,  which  prevents  competition 
beyond  a  certain  point.  When  the  price  has  been 
fixed,  after  due  and  inevitable  chaffering,  one  lomovtii 
grasps  his  shapeless  cap  by  its  worn  edge  of  fur, 
bites  a  kopek,  and  drops  it  in.  Each  of  the  other 
men  contributes  a  marked  copper  likewise,  and  we 
are  invited  to  draw  lots,  in  full  view,  to  determine 
which  of  them  shall  have  the  job.  The  master  of 
the  Arte*!  sees  to  it  that  there  is  fair  play  on  both 
sides.  If  an  unruly  member  presumes  to  intervene 
with  a  lower  bid,  with  the  object  of  monopolizing 
the  job  out  of  turn,  he  is  promptly  squelched,  and, 
though  his  bid  may  be  allowed  to  stand,  the  man 
whose  kopek  we  have  drawn  must  do  the  work.  The 
winner  chee-ee-eeps  to  his  little  horse,  whose  shaggy 
mane  has  been  tangled  by  the  loving  hand  of  the 
domov6i  (house-sprite)  and  hangs  to  his  knees.  The 
patient  beast,  which,  like  all  Russian  horses,  is  never 
covered,  no  matter  how  severe  the  weather  may  be, 
or  how  hot  he  may  be  from  exercise,  rouses  himself 
from  his  real  or  simulated  slumber,  and  takes  up 
the  burden  of  life  again,  handicapped  by  the  huge 
wooden  arch,  gayly  painted  in  flowers  and  initials, 
which  joins  his  shafts,  and  does  stout  service  despite 
his  sorry  aspect. 

But  the  early  summer  is  the  season  when  the 
Fontanka  is  to  be  seen  in  its  most  characteristic 
state.  The  brilliant  blue  water  sparkles  under  the 
hot  sun,  or  adds  one  more  tint  to  the  exquisite  hues 
which  make  of  the  sky  one  vast,  gleaming  fire-opal 


30  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

on  those  marvelous  "  white  nights  "  when  darkness 
never  descends  to  a  depth  beyond  the  point  where 
it  leaves  all  objects  with  natural  forms  and  colors, 
and  only  spiritualizes  them  with  the  gentle  vague- 
ness of  a  translucent  veil.  Small  steamers,  manned 
by  wooden-faced,  blond  Finns,  connect  the  unfash- 
ionable suburban  quarters,  lying  near  the  canal's 
entrance  into  the  Neva  on  the  west,  with  the  fash- 
ionable Court  quarter  on  the  northern  quays  at  its 
other  entrance  into  the  Nevd,  seven  versts  away. 
They  dart  about  like  sea-gulls,  picking  their  path, 
not  unfraught  with  serious  danger,  among  the  ob- 
structions. The  obstructions  are  many :  washing- 
house  boats  (it  is  a  good  old  unexploded  theory  in 
Petersburg  that  clothes  are  clean  only  when  rinsed 
in  running  water,  even  though  our  eyes  and  noses 
inform  us,  unaided  by  chart,  where  the  drainage 
goes)  ;  little  flotillas  of  dingy  flat-boats,  anchored 
around  the  "  Fish-Gardens,"  and  containing  the  lat- 
ter's  stock  in  trade,  where  persons  of  taste  pick  their 
second  dinner-course  out  of  the  flopping  inmates  of 
a  temporary  scoop-net ;  huge,  unwieldy,  wood  barks, 
put  together  with  wooden  pegs,  and  steered  with 
long,  clumsy  rudders,  which  the  poor  peasants  have 
painfully  poled  —  tramp,  tramp,  tramp,  along  the 
sides  —  through  four  hundred  miles  of  tortuous 
waterways  from  that  province  of  the  former  haughty 
republic,  "  Lord  Novgorod  the  Great,"  where  Prince 
Rurik  ruled  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  present 
imperial  empire,  and  whence  came  Prince -Saint 
Alexander,  to  win  his  surname  of  NeVsky,  as  we 
have  seen,  at  the  spot  where  his  monastery  stands,  a 
couple  of  miles,  at  most,  away. 

The   boatmen,  who   have  trundled    all   day  long 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  31 

their  quaint  little  barrows  over  the  narrow  iron  rails 
into  the  spacious  inner  courtyards  of  the  houses  on 
the  quay,  and  have  piled  up  their  wood  for  winter 
fuel,  or  loaded  it  into  the  carts  for  less  accessible 
buildings,  now  sit  on  the  stern  of  their  barks,  over 
their  coarse  food,  - —  sour  black  bread,  boiled  buck- 
wheat groats,  and  salted  cucumbers,  —  doffing  their 
hats  and  crossing  themselves  reverently  before  and 
after  their  simple  meal,  and  chatting  until  the  red 
glow  of  sunset  in  the  north  flickers  up  to  the  zenith 
in  waves  of  sea-green,  lilac,  and  amber,  and  de- 
scends again  in  the  north,  at  the  pearl  pink  of 
dawn.  Sleep  is  a  lost  art  with  these  men,  as  with 
all  classes  of  people,  during  those  nerve-destroying 
"white  nights."  When  all  the  silvery  satin  of  the 
birch  logs  has  been  removed  from  their  capacious 
holds,  these  primitive  barks  will  be  unpegged,  and 
the  cheap  "  bark-wood,"  riddled  with  holes  as  by  a 
mitrailleuse,  will  be  used  for  poor  structures  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  town. 

On  the  upper  shore  of  this  river,  second  only  to 
the  Neva  in  its  perennial  fascination,  and  facing  on 
the  Prospe'kt,  stands  the  Anitchkoff  Palace,  on  the 
site  of  a  former  lumber-yard,  which  was  purchased 
by  the  Empress  Elizabeth,  when  she  commissioned 
her  favorite  architect,  Rastrelli,  to  erect  for  Count 
Razumovsky  a  palace  in  that  rococo  style  which  he 
used  in  so  many  palaces  and  churches  during  her 
reign  and  that  of  Katherine  II.,  —  the  rococo  style 
being,  by  the  way,  quite  the  most  unsuited  discover- 
able for  Russian  churches. 

Count  Alexe*i  Grigorevitch  Razum6vsky  was  the 
Empress  Elizabeth's  husband,  the  uneducated  but 
handsome  son  of  a  plain  Kazak  from  Little  Russia, 


32  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

who  attracted  the  attention  of  Elizaveta  Petrovna  as 
his  sweet  voice  rang  out  in  the  imperial  choir,  at 
mass,  in  her  palace  church.  When  the  palace  was 
completed,  in  1757,  it  did  not  differ  materially  from 
its  present  appearance,  as  a  painting  in  the  Winter 
Palace  shows,  except  that  its  colonnade,  now  in- 
closed for  the  Imperial  Chancellery  and  offices,  then 
abutted  directly  on  the  Fontanka.  It  has  had  a 
very  varied  ownership,  with  some  curious  features 
in  that  connection  which  remind  one  of  a  gigantic 
game  of  ball  between  Katherine  II.  and  Prince  Po- 
te*mkin.  Count  Razumovsky  did  not  live  in  it  until 
after  the  Empress  Elizabeth's  death,  in  1762.  After 
his  own  death,  his  brother  sold  it  to  the  state,  and 
Katherine  II.  presented  it  to  Prince  Potemkin,  who 
promptly  resold  it  to  a  wealthy  merchant-contractor 
in  the  commissariat  department  of  the  army,  who  in 
turn  sold  it  to  Katherine  II.,  who  gave  it  once  more 
to  Potemkin.  The  prince  never  lived  here,  but  gave 
sumptuous  garden  parties  in  the  vast  park,  which  is 
now  in  great  part  built  over,  and  sold  it  back  to  the 
state  again  in  1794.  It  was  first  occupied  by  royalty 
in  1809,  when  the  Emperor  Alexander  I.  settled  his 
sister  here,  with  her  first  husband,  —  that  Prince  of 
Oldenburg  whose  territory  in  Germany  Napoleon  I. 
so  summarily  annexed  a  few  years  later,  thereby 
converting  the  Oldenburgs  permanently  into  Russian 
princes. 

The  Grand  Duke  Heir  Nicholas  used  it  from  1819 
until  he  ascended  the  throne,  in  1825,  and  since  that 
time  it  has  been  considered  the  palace  of  the  heir  to 
the  throne.  But  the  present  Emperor  has  continued 
to  occupy  it  since  his  accession,  preferring  its  sim- 
plicity to  the  magnificence  of  the  Winter  Palace. 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  33 

The  high  walls,  of  that  reddish-yellow  hue,  like 
the  palace  itself,  which  is  usually  devoted  to  govern- 
ment buildings  in  Russia,  continue  the  line  of  offices 
along  the  Prospekt,  and  surround  wooded  gardens, 
where  the  Emperor  and  his  family  coast,  skate,  and 
enjoy  their  winter  pleasures,  invisible  to  the  eyes  of 
passers-by. 

These  woods  and  walls  also  form  the  eastern 
boundary  of  the  Alexandra  Square,  in  whose  centre 
rises  Mike*shin  and  Opekiishin's  fine  colossal  bronze 
statue  of  Katherine  II.,  crowned,  sceptred,  in  impe- 
rial robes,  and  with  the  men  who  made  her  reign 
illustrious  grouped  about  her  feet.  Among  these 
representatives  of  the  army,  navy,  literature,  science, 
art,  there  is  one  woman,  —  that  dashing  Princess 
Elizaveta  Rom&novna  Dashkoff,  who  helped  Kath- 
erine to  her  throne.  As  Empress,  Katherine  ap- 
pointed her  to  be  first  president  of  the  newly 
founded  Academy  of  Sciences,  but  afterward  with- 
drew her  favor,  and  condemned  her  to  both  polite 
and  impolite  exile,  —  because  of  her  services,  the 
princess  hints,  in  her  celebrated  and  very  lively 
"  Memoirs." 

In  the  Alexandra  Theatre,  for  Russian  and  Ger- 
man drama,  which  rears  its  new  (1828)  Corinthian 
peristyle  and  its  bronze  quadriga  behind  the  great 
Empress,  forming  the  background  of  the  Square, 
two  of  the  Empress's  dramas  still  hold  the  stage,  on 
occasion.  For  this  busy  and  energetic  woman  not 
only  edited  and  published  a  newspaper,  the  greater 
part  of  which  she  wrote  with  her  own  hand,  but  com- 
posed numerous  comedies  and  comic  operas,  where 
the  moral,  though  sufficiently  obvious  all  the  way 
through,  one  would  have  thought,  in  the  good  old 


34  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

style  is  neatly  labeled  at  the  end.  These  were 
acted  first  in  the  priva.te  theatres  of  the  various  pal- 
aces, by  the  dames  and  cavaliers  of  the  Court,  after 
which  professional  actors  presented  them  to  the  pub- 
lic in  the  ordinary  theatres. 

It  is  in  vain  that  we  scrutinize  the  chubby-cheeked 
countenance  of  the  bronze  Prince  Pote*mkin,  at  Kath- 
erine  II. 's  feet,  to  discover  the  secret  of  the  charm 
which  made  the  imperial  lady  who  towers  above  him 
force  upon  him  so  often  the  ground  upon  which  they 
both  now  stand.  He  stares  stolidly  at  the  Prospekt, 
ignoring  not  only  the'  Theatre,  but  the  vast  struc- 
tures containing  the  Direction  of  Theatres  and  Pris- 
ons, the  Censor's  Office,  Theatrical  School,  and  other 
government  offices  in  the  background;  the  new 
building  for  shops  and  apartments,  where  ancient 
Russian  forms  have  been  adapted  to  modern  street 
purposes ;  and  even  the  wonderfully  rich  Imperial 
Public  Library,  begun  in  1794,  to  contain  the  books 
brought  from  Warsaw,  with  its  Corinthian  peristyle 
interspersed  with  bronze  statues  of  ancient  sages,  on 
the  garden  side,  —  all  of  which  stand  upon  the  scene 
of  his  former  garden  parties,  as  the  name  of  the 
avenue  beyond  the  plain  end  of  the  Library  on  the 
Prospe'kt  —  Great  Garden  Street  —  reminds  us.  Not 
far  away  is  the  site  of  the  tunnel  dug  under  the 
Prospe'kt  by  the  revolutionists,  which,  however,  was 
fortunately  discovered  in  time  to  prevent  the  de- 
struction of  one  of  the  fairest  parts  of  the  city,  and 
its  most  valuable  buildings.  With  the  next  block 
we  enter  upon  the  liveliest,  the  most  characteristic 
portion  of  the  N6vsky  Prospe'kt,  in  that  scant  frac- 
tion over  a  mile  which  is  left  to  us  above  the  Anitch- 
koff  Bridge, 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  35 

Here  stands  the  vast  bazaar  known  as  the  G-os- 
tinny  Dvor,  —  "Guests'  Court,"  —  a  name  which 
dates  from  the  epoch  when  a  wealthy  merchant  en- 
gaged in  foreign  trade,  and  owning  his  own  ships, 
was  distinguished  from  the  lesser  sort  by  the  title 
of  "  Guest,"  which  we  find  in  the  ancient  epic  songs 
of  Russia.  Its  frontage  of  seven  hundred  feet  on  the 
Prospe'kt,  and  one  thousand  and  fifty  on  Great  Gar- 
den and  the  next  parallel  street,  prepare  us  to  be- 
lieve that  it  may  really  contain  more  than  five  hun- 
dred shops  in  the  two  stories,  the  lower  surrounded 
by  a  vaulted  arcade  supporting  an  open  gallery, 
which  is  invaluable  for  decorative  purposes  at  Easter 
and  on  imperial  festival  days.  Erected  in  1735,  very 
much  in  its  present  shape,  the  one  common  through- 
out the  country,  on  what  had  been  an  impassable 
morass  a  short  time  before,  and  where  the  ground 
still  quakes  at  dawn,  it  may  not  contain  the  largest 
and  best  shops  in  town,  and  its  merchants  certainly 
are  not  "  guests  "  in  the  ancient  acceptation  of  the 
word ;  but  we  may  claim,  nevertheless,  that  it  pre- 
sents a  compendium  of  most  purchasable  articles 
extant,  from  samovdri,  furs,  and  military  goods,  to 
books,  sacred  images,  and  Moscow  imitations  of  Pa- 
risian novelties  at  remarkably  low  prices,  as  well  as 
the  originals. 

The  nooks  and  spaces  of  the  arcade,  especially  at 
the  corners  and  centre,  are  occupied  by  booths  of 
cheap  wares.  The  sacred  image,  indispensable  to  a 
Russian  shop,  is  painted  on  the  vaulted  ceiling;  the 
'shrine  lamp  flickers  in  the  open  air,  thus  serving 
many  aproned,  homespun  and  sheepskin  clad  dealers. 
The  throng  of  promenaders  here  is  always  varied 
and  interesting.  The  practiced  eye  distinguishes  in- 


36  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

finite  shades  of  difference  in  wealth,  social  standing, 
and  other  conditions.  The  lady  in  the  velvet  shtiba, 
lined  with  sable  or  black  fox,  her  soft  velvet  cap 
edged  with  costly  otter,  her  head  wrapped  in  a  fleecy 
knitted  shawl  of  goat's-down  from  the  steppes  of 
Orenburg,  or  pointed  hood  —  the  bashlyk  —  of  woven 
goat's-down  from  the  Caucasus,  has  driven  hither  in 
her  sledge  or  carriage,  and  has  alighted  to  gratify 
the  curiosity  of  her  sons.  We  know  at  a  glance 
whether  the  lads  belong  in  the  aristocratic  Pages' 
Corps,  on  Great  Garden  Street,  hard  by,  in  the  Uni- 
versity, the  Law  School,  the  Lyceum,  or  the  Gym- 
nasium, and  we  can  make  a  shrewd  guess  at  their 
future  professions  by  their  faces  as  well  as  by  their 
uniforms.  The  lady  who  comes  to  meet  us  in  sleeved 
pelisse,  wadded  with  eider-down,  and  the  one  in  a 
short  jacket  have  arrived,  and  must  return,  on  foot ; 
they  could  not  drive  far  in  the  open  air,  so  thinly 
clad. 

At  Christmas-tide  there  is  a  great  augmentation 
in  the  queer  "  Vyazemsky  "  and  other  cakes,  the  peas- 
ant laces,  sweet  Vyborg  cracknels,  fruit  pastils,  and 
other  popular  goods,  on  which  these  petty  open-air 
dealers  appear  to  thrive,  both  in  health  and  purse. 
The  spacious  area  between  the  bazaar  and  the  side- 
walk of  the  Nevsky  is  filled  with  Christmas-trees, 
beautifully  unadorned,  or  ruined  with  misplaced 
gaudiness,  brought  in,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  by 
Finns  from  the  surrounding  country.  Again,  in  the 
week  preceding  Palm  Sunday,  the  Verlnaya  Ydr- 
marka,  or  Pussy  Willow  Fair,  takes  place  here. 
Nominally,  it  is  held  for  the  purpose  of  providing  the 
public  with  twigs  of  that  aesthetic  plant  (the  only 
one  which  shows  a  vestige  of  life  at  that  season), 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  37 

winch  are  used  as  palms,  from  the  Emperor's  palace 
to  the  poorest  church  in  the  land.  In  reality,  it  is  a 
most  amusing  fair  for  toys  and  cheap  goods  suitable 
for  Easter  eggs ;  gay  paper  roses,  wherewith  to  adorn 
the  Easter  cake  ;  and  that  combination  of  sour  and 
sweet  cream  and  other  forbidden  delicacies,  the  pds- 
kha,  with  which  the  long,  severe  fast  is  to  be  broken, 
after  midnight  matins  on  Easter.  Here  are  plump 
little  red  Finland  parrots,  green  and  red  finches,  and 
other  song-birds,  which  kindly  people  buy  and  set 
free,  after  a  pretty  custom.  The  board  and  canvas 
booths,  the  sites  for  which  are  drawn  by  lot  by  sol- 
diers' widows,  and  sold  or  used  as  suits  their  con- 
venience, are  locked  at  night  by  dropping  the  canvas 
flap,  and  are  never  guarded ;  while  the  hint  that 
thefts  may  be  committed,  or  that  watching  is  neces- 
sary, is  repelled  with  indignation  by  the  stall-keepers. 

There  is  always  a  popular  toy  of  the  hour.  One 
year  it  consisted  of  highly  colored,  beautifully  made 
bottle-imps,  which  were  loudly  cried  as  Amerikdn- 
skiya  zhiteli,  —  inhabitants  of  America.  We  inquired 
the  reason  for  their  name. 

"  They  are  made  in  the  exact  image  of  the  Amer- 
icans," explained  the  peasant  vendor,  offering  a  pale 
blue  imp,  with  a  long,  red  tongue  and  a  phenomenal 
tail,  for  our  admiration. 

44  We  are  inhabitants  of  America.  Is  the  likeness 
very  strong  ?  "  we  asked. 

The  crowd  tittered  softly ;  the  man  looked  fright- 
ened ;  but  finding  that  no  dire  fate  threatened,  he 
was  soon  vociferating  again,  with  a  roguish  grin  :  — 

"  Kupiti,  kupi-i-iti  !  Prevoskhtidniya  AmSrikan- 
skiya  zhiteli  !  Sd-d-miya  nastoydshtschiya  !  "  —  Buy, 
buy,  splendid  natives  of  America  !  the  most  genuine 
sort! 


38  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

Far  behind  this  Gostinny  Dvor  extends  a  complex 
mass  of  other  curious  "  courts "  and  markets,  all 
worthy  of  a  visit  for  the  popular  types  which  they 
afford  of  the  lower  classes.  Among  them  all  none 
is  more  steadily  and  diversely  interesting,  at  all  sea- 
sons of  the  year,  than  the  Syenndya  Pldshtschad,  — 
the  Haymarket,  —  so  called  from  its  use  in  days  long 
gone  by.  Here,  in  the  Fish  Market,  is  the  great  re- 
pository  for  the  frozen  food  which  is  so  necessary  in 
a  land  where  the  church  exacts  a  sum  total  of  over 
four  months'  fasting  out  of  the  twelve.  Here  the 
fish  lie  piled  like  cordwood,  or  overflow  from  casks, 
for  economical  buyers.  Merchants'  wives,  with  heads 
enveloped  in  colored  kerchiefs,  in  the  olden  style, 
well  tucked  in  at  the  neck  of  their  saltipi,  or  sleeved 
fur  coats,  prowl  in  search  of  bargains.  Here  sit  the 
fishermen  from  the  distant  Murman  coast,  from  Ark- 
hangel,  with  weather-beaten  but  intelligent  faces,  in 
their  quaint  skull-caps  of  reindeer  hide,  and  baggy, 
shapeless  garments  of  mysterious  skins,  presiding  over 
the  wares  which  they  have  risked  their  lives  to  catch 
in  the  stormy  Arctic  seas,  during  the  long  days  of 
the  brief  summer-time  ;  codfish  dried  and  curled  into 
gray  unrecognizableness  ;  yellow  caviar  which  resists 
the  teeth  like  tiny  balls  of  gutta-percha,  —  not  the 
delicious  gray  "  pearl "  caviar  of  the  sturgeon,  —  and 
other  marine  food  which  is  never  seen  on  the  rich 
man's  table. 

But  we  must  return  to  the  Nevsky  Prospekt. 
Nestling  at  the  foot  of  the  City  Hall,  at  the  entrance 
of  the  broad  street  between  it  and  the  Gostinny  Dvor, 
on  the  Nevsky,  stands  a  tiny  chapel,  which  is  as 
thriving  as  the  bazaar,  in  its  own  way,  and  as  strik- 
ing a  compendium  of  some  features  in  Russian  archi- 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  39 

tecture  and  life.  Outside  hangs  a  large  image  of  the 
"  Saviour-not-made-with-hands,"  —  the  Russian  name 
for  the  sacred  imprint  on  St.  Veronica's  handkerchief, 
—  which  is  the  most  popular  of  all  the  representa-  • 
tions  of  Christ  in  ikdni.  Before  it  burns  the  usual 
"  unquenchable  lamp,"  filled  with  the  obligatory  pure 
olive-oil.  Beneath  it  stands  a  table  bearing  a  large 
bowl  of  consecrated  water.  On  hot  summer  days  the 
thirsty  wayfarer  takes  a  sip,  using  the  ancient  Rus- 
sian kovsh,  or  short-handled  ladle,  which  lies  beside 
it,  crosses  himself,  and  drops  a  small  offering  on  the 
dish  piled  with  copper  coins  near  by,  making  change 
for  himself  if  he  has  not  the  exact  sum  which  he 
wishes  to  give. 

Inside,  many  ik6ni  decorate  the  walls.  The  pale 
flames  of  their  shrine-lamps  are  supplemented  by 
masses  of  candles  in  the  huge  standing  candlesticks  of 
silver.  A  black-robed  monk  from  the  monastery  is 
engaged,  almost  without  cessation,  in  intoning  prayers 
of  various  sorts,  before  one  or  another  of  the  images. 
The  little  chapel  is  thronged ;  there  is  barely  room 
for  respectfully  flourished  crosses,  such,  as  the  peasant 
loves,  often  only  for  the  more  circumscribed  sign  cur- 
rent among  the  upper  classes,  and  none  at  all  for  the 
favorite  "  ground  reverences."  The  approach  to  the 
door  is  lined  with  two  files  of  monks  and  nuns  :  monks 
in  high  Tdobliki,  like  rimless  chimney-pot  hats,  draped 
with  black  woolen  veils,  which  are  always  becoming ; 
tchernitzi,  or  lay  sisters,  from  distant  convents,  in 
similar  headgear,  in  caps  flat  or  pointed  like  the 
small  end  of  a  watermelon,  and  with  ears  protected 
by  black  woolen  shawls  ungracefully  pinned.  Ser- 
viceable man's  boots  do  more  than  peep  out  from 
beneath  the  short,  rusty-black  skirts.  Each  monk 


40  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

and  nun  holds  a  small  pad  of  threadbare  black  velvet, 
whereon  a  cross  of  tarnished  gold  braid,  and  a  stray 
copper  or  two,  by  way  of  bait,  explain  the  eleemosy- 
nary significance  of  the  bearers'  "  broad "  crosses, 
dizzy  "  reverences  to  the  girdle,"  and  muttered  en- 
treaty, of  which  we  catch  only :  "  Khristi  Rddi  " 
For  Christ's  sake. 

People  of  all  classes  turn  in  here  for  a  moment 
of  prayer,  to  "  place  a  candle "  to  some  saint,  for 
the  health,  in  body  or  soul,  of  friend  or  relative  :  the 
workman,  his  tools  on  his  back  in  a  coarse  linen 
kit;  the  bearded  muzhik  from  the  country,  clad  in 
his  sheepskin  tulup,  wool  inward,  the  soiled  yellow 
leather  outside  set  off  by  a  gay  sash ;  ladies,  officers, 
civilians,  —  the  stream  never  ceases. 

The  only  striking  feature  about  the  next  building 
of  importance,  the  Gradskdya  Duma,  or  City  Hall, 
is  the  lofty  tower,  upon  whose  balcony,  high  in  air, 
guards  pace  incessantly,  on  the  watch  for  fires.  By 
day  they  telegraph  the  locality  of  disaster  to  the  fire 
department  by  means  of  black  balls  and  white  boards, 
in  fixed  combinations ;  by  night,  with  colored  lan- 
terns. Each  section  of  the  city  has  a  signal-tower 
of  this  sort,  and  the  engine-house  is  close  at  hand. 
Gradskdya  Duma  means,  literally,  city  thought,  and 
the  profundity  of  the  meditations  sometimes  in- 
dulged in  in  this  building,  otherwise  not  remarkable, 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  discovered  a  few  years 
ago,  that  many  honored  members  of  the  Duma 
(which  also  signifies  the  Council  of  City  Fathers), 
whose  names  still  stood  on  the  roll,  were  dead,  though 
they  continued  to  vote  and  exercise  their  other  civic 
functions  with  exemplary  regularity  ! 

Naturally,  in  a  city  which  lies  on  a  level  with  the 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  41 

southern  point  of  Greenland,  the  most  characteristic 
season  to  select  for  our  observations  of  the  life  is 
winter. 

The  Prosplkt  wakes  late.  It  has  been  up  nearly 
all  night,  and  there  is  but  little  inducement  to  early 
rising  when  the  sun  itself  sets  such  a  fashion  as  nine 
o'clock  for  its  appearance  on  the  horizon,  like  a  pew- 
ter disk,  with  a  well-defined  hard  rim,  when  he  makes 
his  appearance  at  all.  If  we  take  the  Prospe*kt  at 
different  hours,  we  may  gain  a  fairly  comprehensive 
view  of  many  Russian  ways  and  people,  cosmopoli- 
tan as  the  city  is. 

At  half-past  seven  in  the  morning,  the  horse-cars, 
which  have  been  resting  since  ten  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing, make  a  start,  running  always  in  groups  of  three, 
stopping  only  at  turnouts.  The  dvtirniki  retire  from 
the  entrance  to  the  courtyards,  where  they  have  been 
sleeping  all  night  with  one  eye  open,  wrapped  in  their 
sheepskin  coats.  A  few  shabby  izvtistchiks  make  their 
appearance  somewhat  later,  in  company  with  small 
schoolboys,  in  their  soldierly  uniforms,  knapsacks  of 
books  on  back,  and  convoyed  by  servants.  Earliest 
of  all  are  the  closed  carriages  of  officials,  evidently 
the  most  lofty  in  grade,  since  it  was  decided,  two  or 
three  years  ago,  by  one  of  this  class,  that  his  subordi- 
nates could  not  reasonably  be  expected  to  arrive  at 
business  before  ten  or  eleven  o'clock  after  they  had 
sat  up  until  daylight  over  their  indispensable  club 
vintp — which  is  Russian  whist. 

^QOis,^muzhiki)  in  scarlet  cotton  blouses,  and  full 
trousers  of  black  velveteen,  tucked  into  tall  wrinkled 
boots,  dart  about  to  bakery  and  dairy  shop,  preparing 
for  their  masters'  morning  "  tea."  Venders  of  news- 
papers congregate  at  certain  spots,  and  charge  for 


42  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

their  wares  in  inverse  ratio  to  the  experience  of  their 
customers;  for  regular  subscribers  receive  their  pa- 
pers through  the  post-office,  and,  if  we  are  in  such 
unseemly  haste  as  to  care  for  the  news  before  the  ten 
o'clock  delivery  —  or  the  eleven  o'clock,  if  the  post- 
man has  not  found  it  convenient  otherwise  —  we  must 
buy  on  the  street,  though  we  live  but  half  a  block 
from  the  newspaper  office,  which  opens  at  ten.  By 
noon,  every  one  is  awake.  The  restaurants  are  full 
of  breakfasters,  and  Dominique's,  which  chances  to 
stand  on  the  most  crowded  stretch  of  the  street,  on 
the  sunny  north  side  beloved  of  promenaders,  is 
dense  with  officers,  cigarette  smoke,  and  character- 
istic national  viands  judiciously  mingled  with  those 
of  foreign  lands. 

Mass  is  over,  and  a  funeral  passes  down  the  N6vsky 
Prospekt,  on  its  way  to  the  fashionable  Alexander 
Nevsky  monastery  or  Novo-Dyevitche  convent  ceme- 
teries. The  deceased  may  have  been  a  minister  of 
state,  or  a  great  officer  of  the  Court,  or  a  military 
man  who  is  accompanied  by  warlike  pageant.  The 
choir  chants  a  dirge.  The  priests,  clad  in  vestments 
of  black  velvet  and  silver,  seem  to  find  their  long 
thick  hair  sufficient  protection  to  their  bare  heads. 
The  professional  mutes,  with  their  silver-trimmed 
black  baldrics  and  cocked  hats,  appear  to  have 
plucked  up  the  street  lanterns  by  their  roots  to  serve 
as  candles,  out  of  respect  to  the  deceased's  greatness, 
and  to  illustrate  how  the  city  has  been  cast  into  dark- 
ness by  the  withdrawal  of  the  light  of  his  counte- 
nance. The  dead  man's  orders  and  decorations  are 
borne  in  imposing  state,  on  velvet  cushions,  before 
the  gorgeous  funeral  car,  where  the  pall,  of  cloth  of 
gold,  which  will  be  made  into  a  priest's  vestment 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  43 

once  the  funeral  is  over,  droops  low  among  artistic 
wreaths  ami  palms,  of  natural  flowers,  or  beautifully 
executed  in  silver.  Behind  come  the  mourners  on 
foot,  a  few  women,  many  men,  a  Grand  Duke  or  two 
among  them,  it  may  be  ;  the  carriages  follow ;  the 
devout  of  the  lower  classes,  catching  sight  of  the 
train,  cross  themselves  broadly,  mutter  a  prayer,  and 
find  time  to  turn  from  their  own  affairs  and  follow 
for  a  little  way,  out  of  respect  to  the  stranger  corpse. 
More  touching  are  the  funerals  which  pass  up  the 
Prospekt  on  their  way  to  the  unfashionable  cemetery 
across  the  Neva,  on  Vasily  Ostroff ;  a  tiny  pink  coffin 
resting  on  the  knees  of  the  bereaved  parents  in  a 
sledge,  or  borne  by  a  couple  of  bareheaded  men,  with 
one  or  two  mourners  walking  slowly  behind. 

From  noon  onward,  the  scene  on  the  Prospekt  in- 
creases constantly  in  vivacity.  The  sidewalks  are 
crowded,  especially  on  Sundays  and  holidays,  with  a 
dense  and  varied  throng,  of  so  many  nationalities  and 
types  that  it  is  a  valuable  lesson  in  ethnography 
to  sort  them,  and  that  a  secret  uttered  is  absolutely 
safe  in  no  tongue,  —  unless,  possibly,  it  be  that  of 
Patagonia.  But  the  universal  language  of  the  eye 
conquers  all  difficulties,  even  for  the  remarkably  fair 
Tatar  women,  whose  national  garb  includes  only  the 
baldest  and  gauziest  apology  for  the  obligatory  veil. 

The  plain  faQades  of  the  older  buildings  on  this 
part  of  the  Prospekt,  which  are  but  three  or  four 
stories  in  height,  — elevators  are  rare  luxuries  in  Pe- 
tersburg, and  few  buildings  exceed  five  stories,  —  are 
adorned,  here  and  there,  with  gayly-colored  pictorial 
representations  of  the  wares  for  sale  within.  But 
little  variety  in  architecture  is  furnished  by  the  in- 
conspicuous Armenian,  and  the  uncharacteristic  Dutch 


44  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

Reformed  and  Lutheran  churches  which  break  the 
severe  line  of  this  "  Tolerance  Street,"  as  it  has  been 
called.  Most  fascinating  of  all  the  shops  are  those  of 
the  furriers  and  goldsmiths,  with  their  surprises  and 
fresh  lessons  for  foreigners ;  the  treasures  of  Cauca- 
sian and  Asian  art  in  the  Eastern  bazaars ;  the  "  Co- 
lonial wares "  establishments,  with  their  delicious 
game  cheeses,  and  odd  studend  (fishes  in  jelly),  their 
pineapples  at  five  and  ten  dollars,  their  tiny  oysters 
from  the  Black  Sea  at  twelve  and  a  half  cents  apiece. 

Enthralling  as  are  the  shop  windows,  the  crowd 
on  the  sidewalk  is  more  enthralling  still.  There  are 
Kazaks,  dragoons,  cadets  of  the  military  schools,  stu- 
dents, so  varied,  though  their  gay  uniforms  are  hid- 
den by  their  coats,  that  their  heads  resemble  a  bed 
of  verbenas  in  the  sun.  There  are  officers  of  every 
sort:  officers  with  rough  gray  overcoats  and  round 
lambskin  caps ;  officers  in  large,  flat,  peaked  caps,  and 
smooth-surfaced  voluminous  cape-coats,  wadded  with 
eider-down  and  lined  with  gray  silk,  which  trail  on 
their  spurs,  and  with  collars  of  costly  beaver  or  striped 
American  raccoon,  and  long  sleeves  forever  dangling 
unused.  A  snippet  of  orange  and  black  ribbon  worn 
in  the  buttonhole  shows  us  that  the  wearer  belongs 
to  the  much-coveted  military  Order  of  St.  George. 
There  are  civilians  in  black  cape-coats  of  the  military 
pattern,  topped  off  with  cold,  uncomfortable,  but 
fashionable  chimneypot  hats,  or,  more  sensibly,  with 
high  caps  of  beaver. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  how  many  opinions  exist 
as  to  the  weather.  The  officers  leave  their  ears  un- 
protected ;  a  passing  troop  of  soldiers  —  fine,  large, 
hardy  fellows  —  wear  the  strip  of  black  woolen  over 
their  ears,  but  leave  their  lashlyks  hanging  unused 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  45 

on  their  backs,  with  tabs  tucked  neatly  under  shoul- 
der-straps and  belts,  for  use  on  the  Balkans  or  some 
other  really  cold  spot.  Most  of  the  ladies,  on  foot 
or  in  sledges,  wear  bashlyks  or  Orenburg  shawls,  over 
wadded  fur  caps,  well  pulled  down  to  the  brows.  We 
may  be  sure  that  the  pretty  woman  who  trusts  to  her 
bonnet  only  has  also  neglected  to  put  on  the  neces- 
sary warm  galoshes,  and  that  when  she  reaches  home, 
sympathizing  friends  will  rub  her  vain  little  ears,  feet, 
and  brow  with  spirits  of  wine,  to  rescue  her  from  the 
results  of  her  folly.  Only  officers  and  soldiers  pos- 
sess the  secret  of  going  about  in  simple  leather  boots, 
or  protected  merely  by  a  pair  of  stiff,  slapping  leather 
galoshes,  accommodated  to  the  spurs. 

For  some  mysterious  reason,  the  picturesque  nurses, 
with  their  pearl  -  embroidered,  diadem-shaped  caps, 
like  the  kokdshniki  of  the  Empress  and  Court  ladies, 
their  silver-trimmed  petticoats  and  jackets  patterned 
after  the  ancient  Russian  "  soul-warmers,"  and  made 
of  pink  or  blue  cashmere,  never  have  any  children  in 
their  charge  in  winter.  Indeed,  if  we  were  to  go  by 
the  evidence  offered  by  the  Nevsky  Prospe'kt,  espe- 
cially in  cold  weather,  we  should  assert  that  there  are 
no  children  in  the  city,  and  that  the  nurses  are  used 
as  "  sheep-dogs  "  by  ladies  long  past  the  dangerous 
bloom  of  youth  and  beauty. 

The  more  fashionable  people  are  driving,  however, 
and  that  portion  of  the  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
feet  of  the  Prospekt's  width  which  is  devoted  to  the 
roadway  is,  if  possible,  even  more  varied  and  enter- 
taining in  its  kaleidoscopic  features  than  the  side- 
walks. It  is  admirably  kept  at  all  seasons.  With 
the  exception  of  the  cobblestone  roadbed  for  the 
tramway  in  the  centre,  it  is  laid  with  hexagonal 


46  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

wooden  blocks,  well  spiked  together  and  tarred,  rest- 
ing upon  tarred  beams  and  planks,  and  forming  a 
pavement  which  is  both  elastic  and  fairly  resistant  to 
the  volcanic  action  of  the  frost.  The  snow  is  main- 
tained at  such  a  level  that,  while  sledging  is  perfect, 
the  closed  carriages  which  are  used  for  evening  enter- 
tainments, calls,  and  shopping  are  never  incommoded. 
Street  sweepers,  in  red  cotton  blouses  and  clean  white 
linen  aprons,  sweep  on  calmly  in  the  icy  chill.  The 
police,  with  their  lasJilyks  wrapped  round  their  heads 
in  a  manner  peculiar  to  themselves,  stand  always  in 
the  middle  of  the  street  and  regulate  the  traffic. 

We  will  hire  an  izvtistchik  and  join  the  throng.  The 
process  is  simple ;  it  consists  in  setting  ourselves  up 
at  auction  on  the  curbstone,  among  the  numerous 
cabbies  waiting  for  a  job,  and  knocking  ourselves 
down  to  the  lowest  bidder.  If  our  Vanka  (Johnny, 
the  generic  name  for  cabby)  drives  too  slowly,  obvi- 
ously with  the  object  of  loitering  away  our  money, 
a  policeman  will  give  him  a  hint  to  whip  up,  or  we 
may  effect  the  desired  result  by  threatening  to  speak 
to  the  next  guardian  of  the  peace.  If  Vanka  attempts 
to  intrude  upon  the  privileges  of  the  private  car- 
riages, for  whom  is  reserved  the  space  next  the  tram- 
way track  and  the  row  of  high,  silvered  posts  which 
bear  aloft  the  electric  lights,  a  sharp  "  Beregis ! " 
(Look  out  for  yourself !)  will  be  heard  from  the  first 
fashionable  coachman  who  is  impeded  in  his  swift 
career,  and  he  will  be  called  to  order  promptly  by  the 
police.  Ladies  may  not,  unfortunately,  drive  in  the 
smartest  of  the  public  carriages,  but  must  content 
themselves  with  something  more  modest  and  more 
shabby.  But  Vanka  is  usually  good-natured,  patient, 
and  quite  unconscious  of  his  shabbiness,  at  least  in 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  47 

the  liglit  of  a  grievance  or  as  affecting  his  dignity. 
It  was  one  of  these  shabby,  but  democratic  and  self- 
possessed  fellows  who  furnished  us  with  a  fine  illus- 
tration of  the  peasant  qualities.  We  encountered 
one  of  the  Emperor's  cousins  on  his  way  to  his  regi- 
mental barracks;  the  Grand  Duke  mistook  us  for 
acquaintances,  and  saluted.  Our  izvtistchik  returned 
the  greeting. 

"Was  that  Vasily  Dmitrich  ?  "  we  asked  in  Rus- 
sian form. 

"  Yes,  madam." 

"  Whom  was  he  saluting  ?  " 

"  Us,"  replied  the  man,  with  imperturbable  gravity. 

Very  different  from  our  poor  fellow,  who  remem- 
bers his  duties  to  the  saints  and  churches,  and  salutes 
Kazan  Cathedral,  as  we  pass,  with  cross  and  bared 
head,  is  the  fashionable  coachman,  who  sees  nothing 
but  his  horses.  Our  man's  cylindrical  cap  of  imita- 
tion fur  is  old,  his  summer  armydk  of  blue  cloth  fits, 
as  best  it  may,  over  his  lean  form  and  his  sheepskin 
tulup,  and  is  girt  with  a  cheap  cotton  sash. 

The  head  of  the  fashionable  coachman  is  crowned 
with  a  becoming  gold-laced  cap,  in  the  shape  of  the 
ace  of  diamonds,  well  stuffed  with  down,  and  made 
of  scarlet,  sky-blue,  sea-green,  or  other  hue  of  velvet. 
His  fur-lined  armyak,  reaching  to  his  feet,  —  through 
whose  silver  buttons  under  the  left  arm  he  is  burst- 
ing, with  pads  for  fashion  or  with  good  living,  —  is 
secured  about  his. portly  waist  by  a  silken  girdle  glow- 
ing with  roses  and  butterflies.  His  legs  are  too  fat 
to  enter  the  sledge,  —  that  is  to  say,  if  his  master 
truly  respects  his  own  dignity,  —  and  his  feet  are  ac- 
commodated in  iron  stirrups  outside.  He  leans  well 
back,  with  arms  outstretched  to  accord  with  the  racing 


48  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

speed  at  which  he  drives.  In  the  tiny  sledge  —  the 
smaller  it  is,  the  more  stylish,  in  inverse  ratio  to  the 
coachman,  who  is  expected  to  be  as  broad  as  it  is  — 
sits  a  lady  hugging  her  crimson  velvet  shuba  lined 
with  curled  white  Thibetan  goat,  or  feathery  black 
fox  fur,  close  about  her  ears.  An  officer  holds  her 
firmly  with  one  arm  around  the  waist,  a  very  neces- 
sary precaution  at  all  seasons,  with  the  fast  driving, 
where  drozhkies  and  sledges  are  utterly  devoid  of 
back  or  side  rail.  The  spans  of  huge  Orloff  stallions, 
black  or  dappled  gray,  display  their  full  beauty  of 
form  in  the  harnesses  of  slender  straps  and  silver 
chains ;  their  beautiful  eyes  are  unconcealed  by 
blinders.  They  are  covered  with  a  coarse-meshed 
woolen  net  fastened  to  the  winged  dashboard,  black, 
crimson,  purple,  or  blue,  which  trails  in  the  snow  in 
company  with  their  tails  and  the  heavy  tassels  of  the 
fur-edged  cloth  robe.  The  horses,  the  wide-spread- 
ing reddish  beard  of  the  coachman,  parted  in  the 
middle  like  a  well-worn  whisk  broom,  the  hair,  eye- 
lashes, and  furs  of  the  occupants  of  the  sledge,  all 
are  frosted  with  rime  until  each  filament  seems  to 
have  been  turned  into  silver  wire. 

There  is  an  alarm  of  fire  somewhere.  A  section 
of  the  fire  department  passes,  that  imposing  but 
amusing  procession  of  hand-engine,  three  water-bar- 
rels, pennons,  and  fine  horses  trained  in  the  haute 
Scole^  which  does  splendid  work  with  apparently  in- 
adequate means.  An  officer  in  gray  lambskin  cap 
flashes  by,  drawn  by  a  pair  of  fine  trotters.  "  Vot  on 
sam!"  mutters  our  izvtistchik,  —  There  he  is  him- 
self !  It  is  General  Gresser,1  the  prefect  of  the 

1  Since  the  above  was  written,  this  able  officer  and  very  efficient 
prefect  has  died. 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  49 

capital,  who  maintains  perfect  order,  and  demon- 
strates the  possibilities  of  keeping  streets  always 
clean  in  an  impossible  climate.  The  pounding  of 
those  huge  trotters'  hoofs  is  so  absolutely  distinctive 
—  as  distinctive  as  the  unique  gray  cap  —  that  we 
can  recognize  it  as  they  pass,  cry  like  the  izvostchik, 
"  Vbt  on  sam  !  "  and  fly  to  the  window  with  the  cer- 
tainty that  it  will  be  "  he  himself." 

Court  carriages  with  lackeys  in  crimson  and  gold, 
ambassadors'  sledges  with  cock-plumed  chasseurs  and 
cockaded  coachmen,  the  latter  wearing  their  chevrons 
on  their  backs  ;  rude  wooden  sledges,  whose  sides  are 
made  of  knotted  ropes,  filled  with  superfluous  snow ; 
grand  ducal  trtf'ikas  with  clinking  harnesses  studded 
with  metal  plaques  and  flying  tassels,  the  outer  horses 
coquetting,  as  usual,  beside  the  staid  trot  of  the  shaft- 
horse,  —  all  mingle  in  the  endless  procession  which 
flows  on  up  the  Nevsky  Prospe'kt  through  the  Bolshaya 
Morskaya, —  Great  Sea  Street, — and  out  upon  the 
Neva  quays,  and  back  again,  to  see  and  be  seen,  until 
long  after  the  sun  has  set  on  the  short  days,  at  six 
minutes  to  three.  A  plain  sledge  approaches.  The 
officer  who  occupies  it  is  dressed  like  an  ordinary 
general,  and  there  are  thousands  of  generals !  As  he 
drives  quietly  along,  police  and  sentries  give  him  the 
salute  of  the  ordinary  general ;  so  do  those  who  rec- 
ognize him  by  his  face  or  his  Kazak  orderly.  It  is 
the  Emperor  out  for  his  afternoon  exercise.  If  we 
meet  him  near  the  gate  of  the  Amtchkoff  Palace, 
we  may  find  him  sitting  placidly  beside  us,  while 
our  sledge  and  other  sledges  in  the  line  are  stopped 
for  a  moment  to  allow  him  to  enter. 

Here  is  another  sledge,  also  differing  in  no  respect 
from  the  equipages  of  other  people,  save  that  the 


50  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

lackey  on  the  low  knife-board  behind  wears  a  pe- 
culiar livery  of  dark  green,  pale  blue,  and  gold  (or 
with  white  in  place  of  the  green  at  Easter-tide). 
The  lady  whose  large  dark  eyes  are  visible  between 
her  sable  cap  and  the  superb  black  fox  shawl  of  her 
crimson  velvet  cloak  is  the  Empress.  The  lady  be- 
side her  is  one  of  her  ladies-in-waiting.  Attendants, 
guards,  are  absolutely  lacking,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Emperor. 

Here,  indeed,  is  the  place  to  enjoy  winter.  The 
dry,  feathery  snow  descends,  but  no  one  heeds  it. 
We  turn  up  our  coat  collars  and  drive  on.  Umbrel- 
las are  unknown  abominations.  The  permanent  mar- 
quises, of  light  iron-work,  which  are  attached  to  most 
of  the  entrances,  are  serviceable  only  to  those  who 
use  closed  carriages,  and  in  the  rainy  autumn. 

Just  opposite  the  centre  of  this  thronged  prome- 
nade, well  set  back  from  the  street,  stands  the  Cathe- 
dral of  the  Kazan  Virgin.  Outside,  on  the  quay  of 
the  tortuous  Katherine  Canal,  made  a  navigable 
water-way  under  the  second  Katherine,  but  lacking, 
through  its  narrowness,  the  picturesque  features  of 
the  Fontanka,  flocks  of  pigeons  are  fed  daily  from 
the  adjoining  grain  shops.  In  the  curve  of  the  great 
colonnade,  copied,  like  the  exterior  of  the  church  it- 
self, from  that  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome,  bronze  statues, 
heroic  in  size,  of  generals  Kutuzoff  and  Barclay  de 
Tolly,  by  the  Russian  sculptor  Orlovsky,  stand  on 
guard. 

Hither  the  Emperor  and  Empress  come  uto  salute 
the  Virgin,"  on  their  safe  return  from  a  journey. 
Hither  are  brought  imperial  brides  in  gorgeous  state 
procession  —  when  they  are  of  the  Greek  faith  — 
on  their  way  to  the  altar  in  the  Winter  Palace. 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  51 

We  can  never  step  into  this  temple  without  finding 
some  deeply  interesting  and  characteristically  Rus- 
sian event  in  progress.  After  we  have  run  the  in- 
evitable gauntlet  of  monks,  nuns,  and  other  beggars 
at  the  entrance,  we  may  happen  upon  a  baptism, 
just  beyond,  the  naked,  new-born  infant  sputtering 
gently  after  his  thrice-repeated  dip  in  the  candle- 
decked  font,  with  the  priest's  hand  covering  his  eyes, 
ears,  mouth,  and  nostrils,  and  now  undergoing  the 
ceremony  of  anointment  or  confirmation.  Or  we 
may  come  upon  a  bridal  couple,  in  front  of  the  solid 
silver  balustrade ;  or  the  exquisite  liturgy,  exqui- 
sitely chanted  by  the  fine  choir  in  their  vestments 
of  scarlet,  blue,  and  silver,  with  the  seraphic  wings 
upon  their  shoulders,  and  intoned,  with  a  finish  of 
art  unknown  in  other  lands,  by  priests  robed  in  rich 
brocade.  Or  it  may  be  that  a  popular  sermon  by  a 
well-known  orator  has  attracted  a  throng  of  listeners 
among  the  lofty  pillars  of  gray  Finland  granite, 
hung  with  battle-flags  and  the  keys  of  conquered 
towns.  What  we  shall  assuredly  find  is  votaries  as- 
cending the  steps  to  salute  with  devotion  the  be- 
nignant brown-faced  Byzantine  Virgin  and  Christ- 
Child,  incrusted  with  superb  jewels,  or  kneeling  in 
"  ground  reverences,"  with  brow  laid  to  the  marble 
pavement,  before  the  ikonostds,  or  rood-screen,  of 
solid  silver.  Our  Lady  of  Kazan  has  been  the  most 
popular  of  wonder-working  Virgins  ever  since  she 
was  brought  from  Kazan  to  Moscow,  in  1579,  and 
transported  to  Petersburg,  in  1721  (although  her 
present  cathedral  dates  only  from  1811),  and  the 
scene  here  on  Easter-night  is  second  only  to  that  at 
St.  Isaac's  when  the  porticoes  are  thronged  by  the 
lower  classes  waiting  to  have  their  flower  and  candle 


52  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

decked  cakes  and  cream  blessed  at  the  close  of  the 
Easter  matins. 

One  of  the  few  individual  dwelling-houses  which 
linger  on  the  Nevsky  Prospe'kt,  and  which  presents 
us  with  a  fine  specimen  of  the  rococo  style  which 
Rastrelli  so  persistently  served  up  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  is  that  of  the  Counts  Stroganoff, 
at  the  lower  quay  of  the  Moika.  The  Moika  (liter- 
ally, Washing)  River  is  the  last  of  the  semicircular, 
concentric  canals  which  intersect  the  Nevsky  and  its 
two  radiating  companion  Prospe'kts,  and  impart  to 
that  portion  of  the  city  which  is  situated  on  the  (com- 
parative) mainland  a  resemblance  to  an  outspread 
fan,  whose  palm-piece  is  formed  by  the  Admiralty 
on  the  Nev4  quay. 

The  stately  pile,  and  the  pompous  air  of  the  big, 
gold-laced  Swiss  lounging  at  the  entrance  on  the 
Nevsky,  remind  us  that  the  Str6ganoff  family  has 
been  a  power  in  Russian  history  since  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century. 

It  was  a  mere  handful  of  their  Kazdks,  led  by  Yer- 
m&k  Timofe'evitch,  who  conquered  Siberia,  in  1581, 
under  Ivan  the  Terrible,  while  engaged  in  repelling 
the  incursions  of  the  Tatars  and  wild  Siberian  tribes 
on  the  fortified  towns  which  the  Str6ganoffs  had  been 
authorized  to  erect  on  the  vast  territory  at  the  west- 
ern foot  of  the  Ural  Mountains,  conveyed  to  them  by 
the  ancient  Tzars.  Later  on,  when  Alexei  Mikhail- 
ovitch,  the  father  of  Peter  the  Great,  established  a 
new  code,  grading  punishments  and  fines  by  classes, 
the  highest  money  tax  assessed  for  insult  and  injury 
was  fifty  rubles;  but  the  Stroganoffs  were  empowered 
to  exact  one  hundred  rubles. 

Opposite    the    Str6ganoff    house,   on    the    upper 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  53 

Moika  quay,  rises  the  large,  reddish-yellow  Club  of 
the  Nobility,  representing  still  another  fashion  in 
architecture,  which  was  very  popular  during  the 
last  century  for  palaces  and  grand  mansions,  —  the 
Corinthian  peristyle  upon  a  solid,  lofty  basement. 
It  is  not  an  old  building,  but  was  probably  copied 
from  the  palace  of  the  Empress  Elizabeth,  which 
stood  on  this  spot.  Elizaveta  Petrovna,  though  she 
used  this  palace  a  great  deal,  had  a  habit  of  sleep- 
ing in  a  different  place  each  night,  the  precise  spot 
being  never  known  beforehand.  This  practice  is  at- 
tributed, by  some  Russian  historians,  to  her  custom 
of  turning  night  into  day.  She  went  to  the  theatre, 
for  example,  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  any  courtier  who 
failed  to  attend  her  was  fined  fifty  rubles.  It  was 
here  that  the  populace  assembled  to  hurrah  for  Eli- 
zavdta  Petrovna,  on  December  6,  1741,  when  she 
returned  with  little  Ivan  VI.  in  her  arms  from  the 
Winter  Palace,  where  she  had  made  captive  his 
father  and  his  mother,  the  regent  Anna  Leopoldina. 
It  may  have  been  the  recollection  of  the  ease  with 
which  she  had  surprised  indolent  Anna  Leopoldina 
in  her  bed-chamber  which  caused  her  to  be  so  uncer- 
tain in  her  own  movements,  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
there  were  persons  so  ill-advised  as  to  wish  the 
restoration  of  the  slothful  German  regent  and  her  in- 
fant son,  disastrous  as  that  would  have  been  to  the 
country. 

We  must  do  the  Russians  who  occupy  the  build- 
ing at  the  present  day  the  justice  to  state  that  they 
uphold  religiously  the  nocturnal  tradition  thus  es- 
tablished by  Elizaveta  Petrovna,  and  even  improve 
upon  it.  From  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  onward, 
the  long  windows  of  the  club,  on  the  lei  gtage^  blaze 


54  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

with  light.  The  occasional  temporary  obscurations 
produced  by  the  steam  from  relays  of  samovdri  do 
not  interfere  materially  with  the  neighbors'  view  of 
the  card-parties  and  the  final  exchange  of  big  bun- 
dles of  bank-bills,  which  takes  place  at  five  o'clock 
or  later  the  next  morning.  Even  if  players  and  bills 
were  duly  shielded  from  observation,  the  mauvais 
quart  d'heure  would  be  accurately  revealed  by  the 
sudden  rush  for  the  sledges,  which  have  been  hang- 
ing in  a  swarm  about  the  door,  according  to  the  usual 
convenient  custom  of  Vanka,  wherever  lighted  win- 
dows suggest  possible  patrons.  Poor,  hard-worked 
Vanka  slumbers  all  night  on  his  box,  with  one  eye 
open,  or  falls  prone  in  death-like  exhaustion  over  the 
dashboard  upon  his  sleeping  horse,  while  his  cap 
lies  on  the  snow,  and  his  shaggy  head  is  bared  to  the 
bitter  blasts. 

Later  on,  the  chief  of  police  lived  here,  and  the 
adjoining  bridge,  which  had  hitherto  been  known  as 
the  Green  Bridge,  had  its  name  changed  to  the 
Police  Bridge,  which  rather  puzzling  appellation  it 
still  bears. 

A  couple  of  blocks  beyond  this  corner  of  the  Ne*v- 
sky,  the  M6ika  and  the  Grand  Morskaya,  the  Nevsky 
Prospe*kt  ends  at  the  Alexander  Garden,  backed  by 
the  Admiralty  and  the  Nev4,  after  having  passed  in 
its  course  through  all  grades  of  society,  from  the 
monks  at  the  extreme  limit,  peasant  huts,  —  or  some- 
thing very  like  them,  on  the  outskirts,  —  artistic  and 
literary  circles  in  the  Pe*ski  quarter  (the  Sands), 
well-to-do  merchants  and  nobles,  officials  and  wealthy 
courtiers,  until  now  we  have  reached  the  culminat- 
ing point,  where  the  Admiralty,  Imperial  Palace, 
and  War  Office  complete  the  national  group  begun 
at  the  church. 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  55 

When,  in  1704,  Peter  the  Great  founded  his  be- 
loved Admiralty,  as  the  first  building  on  the  main- 
land then  designed  for  such  purposes  as  this,  and  not 
for  residence,  it  was  simply  a  shipyard,  open  to  the 
Neva,  and  inclosed  on  three  sides  by  low  wooden 
structures,  surrounded  by  stone-faced  earthworks, 
moats,  and  palisades.  Hither  Peter  was  wont  to 
come  of  a  morning,  after  having  routed  his  ministers 
out  of  bed  to  hold  privy  council  at  three  and  four 
o'clock,  to  superintend  the  work  and  to  lend  a  hand 
himself.  The  first  stone  buildings  were  erected  in 
1726,  after  his  death.  In  the  early  years  of  the 
present  century,  Alexander  I.  rebuilt  this  stately  and 
graceful  edifice,  after  the  plans  of  the  Russian  archi- 
tect Zakharoff,  who  created  the  beautiful  tower 
adorned  with  Russian  sculptures,  crowned  by  a 
golden  spire,  in  the  centre  of  the  immense  faQade, 
fourteen  hundred  feet  long,  which  forms  a  feature 
inseparable  from  the  vista  of  the  Prospekt  for  the 
greater  part  of  its  length,  to  the  turn  at  the  Zna- 
menskaya  Square.  On  this  spire,  at  the  present 
day,  flags  and  lanterns  warn  the  inhabitants  of  low- 
lying  districts  in  the  capital  of  the  rate  at  which  the 
water  is  rising  during  inundations.  In  case  of  serious 
danger,  the  flags  are  reinforced  by  signal  guns  from 
the  fortress.  But  in  Peter  I.'s  day,  these  flags  and 
guns  bore  exactly  the  opposite  meaning  to  the  un- 
happy nobles  whom  the  energetic  Emperor  was  try- 
ing to  train  into  rough-weather  sailors.  To  their 
trembling  imaginations  these  signal  orders  to  assem- 
ble for  a  practice  sail  signified,  "  Come  out  and  be 
drowned!  "  since  they  were  obliged  to  embark  in  the 
crafts  too  generously  given  to  them  by  Peter,  and 
cruise  about  until  their  leader  (who  delighted  in  a 


56  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

storm)  saw  fit  to  return.  There  is  a  story  of  one 
unhappy  wight,  who  was  honored  by  the  presence 
aboard  his  craft  of  a  very  distinguished  and  very  sea- 
sick Persian,  making  his  first  acquaintance  with  the 
pleasures  of  yachting,  and  who  spent  three  days 
without  food,  tacking  between  Petersburg  and 
Kronstadt,  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  effect  a  landing 
during  rough  weather. 

When  the  present  Admiralty  was  built,  a  broad 
and  shady  boulevard  was  organized  on  the  site  of  the 
old  glacis  and  covered  way,  and  later  still,  when  the 
break  in  the  quay  was  filled  in,  and  the  shipbuilding 
transferred  to  the  New  Admiralty  a  little  farther 
down  the  river,  the  boulevard  was  enlarged  into  the 
New  Alexander  Garden,  one  of  the  finest  squares  in 
Europe.  It  soon  became  the  fashionable  promenade, 
and  the  centre  of  popular  life  as  well,  by  virtue  of 
the  merry-makings  which  took  place.  Here,  during 
the  Carnival  of  1836,  the  temporary  cheap  theatre  of 
boards  was  burned,  at  the  cost  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  lives  and  many  injured  persons,  which  re- 
sulted in  these  dangerous  balagdni  and  other  holiday 
amusements  being  removed  to  the  spacious  parade- 
ground  known  as  the  Empress's  Meadow. 

If  we  pass  round  the  Admiralty  to  the  Nevd,  we 
shall  find  its  frozen  surface  teeming  with  life.  Sledge 
roads  have  been  laid  out  on  it,  marked  with  evergreen 
bushes,  over  which  a  yamtschik  will  drive  us  with  his 
tr6'ika  fleet  as  the  wind,  to  Kronsr&dt,  twenty  miles 
away.  Plank  walks,  fringed  with  street  lanterns, 
have  been  prepared  for  pedestrians.  Broad  ice  paths 
have  been  cleared,  whereon  the  winter  ferry-boats 
ply,  —  green  garden-chairs,  holding  one  or  more  per- 
sons, furnished  with  warm  lap-robes,  and  propelled 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  57 

by  stout  muzhiks  on  skates,  who  will  transport  ua 
from  shore  to  shore  for  the  absurdly  small  sum  of  less 
than  a  cent  apiece,  though  a  ride  with  the  reindeer 
(now  a  strange  sight  in  the  capital),  at  the  Lapland- 
ers' encampment,  costs  much  more. 

It  is  hard  to  tear  ourselves  from  the  charms  of  the 
river,  with  its  fishing,  ice-cutting,  and  many  other 
interesting  sights  always  in  progress.  But  of  all 
the  scenes,  that  which  we  may  witness  on  Epiphany 
Day  —  the  "  Jordan,"  or  Blessing  of  the  Waters,  in 
commemoration  of  Christ's  baptism  in  the  Jordan  — 
is  the  most  curious  and  typically  Russian. 

After  mass,  celebrated  by  the  Metropolitan,  in  the 
cathedral  of  the  Winter  Palace,  whose  enormous  red- 
dish-ochre mass  we  perceive  rising  above  the  frost- 
jeweled  trees  of  the  Alexander  Garden,  to  our  right 
as  we  stand  at  the  head  of  the  Nevsky  Prospekt,  the 
Emperor,  his  heir,  his  brothers,  uncles,  and  other 
great  personages  emerge  in  procession  upon  the  quay. 
Opposite  the  Jordan  door  of  the  palace  a  scarlet,  gold, 
and  blue  pavilion,  also  called  the  "  Jordan,"  has  been 
erected  over  the  ice.  Thither  the  procession  moves, 
headed  by  the  Metropolitan  and  the  richly  vestured 
clergy,  their  mitres  gleaming  with  gems,  bearing 
crosses  and  church  banners,  and  the  imperial  choir, 
clad  in  crimson  and  gold,  chanting  as  they  go.  The 
Empress  and  her  ladies,  clad  in  full  Court  costume  at 
midday,  look  on  from  the  palace  windows.  After 
brief  prayers  in  the  pavilion,  all  standing  with  bared 
heads,  the  Metropolitan  dips  the  great  gold  cross  in 
the  rushing  waters  of  the  Nevd,  through  a  hole  pre- 
pared in  the  thick,  opalescent,  green  ice,  and  the  guns 
on  the  opposite  shore  thunder  out  a  salute.  The  pon- 
toon Palace  Bridge,  the  quays  on  both  sides  of  the 


58  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

river,  all  the  streets  and  squares  for  a  long  distance 
round  about,  are  densely  thronged ;  and,  as  the  guns 
announce  the  consecration,  every  head  is  bared,  every 
right  hand  in  the  mass,  thousands  strong,  is  raised 
to  execute  repeated  signs  of  the  cross  on  brow  and 
breast. 

From  our  post  at  the  head  of  the  Prospe*kt  we 
behold  not  the  ceremony  itself  but  the  framework 
of  a  great  national  picture,  the  great  Palace  Square, 
whereon  twenty  thousand  troops  can  manoauvre,  and 
in  whose  centre  rises  the  greatest  monolith  of  mod- 
ern times,  the  shaft  of  red  Finland  granite,  eighty- 
four  feet  in  height,  crowned  with  a  cross-bearing 
angel,  the  monument  to  Alexander  I.  There  stand 
the  Guards'  Corps,  and  the  huge  building  of  the  Gen- 
eral Staff,  containing  the  Ministries  of  Finance  and 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  many  things  besides,  origi- 
nally erected  by  Katherine  II.  to  mask  the  rears  of 
the  houses  at  the  end  of  the  NeVsky,  and  rebuilt  under 
Nicholas  L,  sweeping  in  a  magnificent  semicircle  op- 
posite the  Winter  Palace.  Regiments  restrain  the 
zeal  of  the  crowd  to  obtain  the  few  posts  of  vantage 
from  which  the  consecration  of  the  waters  is  visible, 
and  keep  open  a  lane  for  the  carriages  of  royalty, 
diplomats,  and  invited  guests.  They  form  part  of 
the  pageant,  like  the  Empress's  cream-colored  car- 
riage and  the  white  horses  and  scarlet  liveries  of  the 
Metropolitan.  The  crowd  is  devout  arid  silent,  as 
Russian  crowds  always  are,  except  when  they  see  the 
Emperor  after  he  has  escaped  a  danger,  when  they 
become  vociferous  with  an  animation  which  is  far 
more  significant  than  it  is  in  more  noisy  lands.  The 
ceremony  over,  the  throngs  melt  away  rapidly  and 
silently ;  pedestrians,  Finnish  ice-sledges,  traffic  in 


THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT.  59 

general,  resume  their  rights  on  the  palace  sidewalks 
ami  the  square,  and  after  a  state  breakfast  the  Em- 
peror drives  quietly  home,  unguarded,  to  his  Anitch- 
koff  Palace. 

If  we  glance  to  our  left,  and  slightly  to  our  rear, 
as  we  stand  thus  facing  the  Nev4  and  the  Admiralty, 
we  see  the  Prefecture  and  the  Ministry  of  War,  the 
latter  once  the  mansion  of  a  grandee  in  the  last  cen- 
tury ;  and,  rising  above  the  latter,  we  catch  a  glimpse 
of  the  upper  gallery,  and  great  gold-plated,  un-Rus- 
sian  dome,  of  St.  Isaac's  Cathedral,  which  is  visible 
for  twenty  miles  down  the  Gulf  of  Finland.  The 
granite  pillars  glow  in  the  frosty  air  with  the  bloom 
of  a  Delaware  grape.  We  forgive  St.  Isaac  for  the 
non-Russian  character  of  the  modern  ecclesiastical 
glories  of  which  it  is  the  exponent,  as  we  listen 
eagerly  to  the  soft,  rich,  boom-boo m-bo-o-om  of  the 
great  bourdon,  embroidered  with  silver  melody  by 
the  multitude  of  smaller  bells  chiming  nearly  all  day 
long  with  a  truly  orthodox  sweetness  unknown  to  the 
Western  world,  and  which,  to-day,  are  more  elabo- 
rately beautiful  than  usual,  in  honor  of  the  great  fes- 
tival. We  appreciate  to  the  full  the  wailing  cry  of 
the  prisoner,  in  the  ancient  epic  songs  of  the  land  : 
"  He  was  cut  off  from  the  light  of  the  fair,  red  sun, 
from  the  sound  of  sweet  church-bells." 

On  the  great  Palace  Square  another  characteristic 
sight  is  to  be  seen  on  the  nights  of  Court  balls,  which 
follow  the  Jordan,  when  the  blaze  of  electric  light 
from  the  rock-crystal  chandeliers,  big  as  haystacks, 
within  the  state  apartments,  is  supplemented  by  the 
fires  in  the  heater  and  on  the  snow  outside,  round 
which  the  waiting  coachmen  warm  themselves,  with 
Rembrandtesque  effects  of  chiaro-oscuro  second  only  to 


60  THE  NEVSKY  PROSPEKT. 

the  picturesqueness  of  dvdrniki  in  their  nondescript 
caps  and  shaggy  coats,  who  cluster  round  blazing 
fagots  in  less  aristocratic  quarters  when  the  thermom- 
eter descends  below  zero. 

When  spring  comes  with  the  magical  suddenness 
which  characterizes  Northern  lands,  the  gardens, 
quays,  and  the  Ne*vsky  Prospe'kt  still  preserve  their 
charms  for  a  space,  and  are  thronged  far  into  the 
night  with  promenaders,  who  gaze  at  the  imperial 
crowns,  stars,  monograms,  and  other  devices  tempo- 
rarily applied  to  the  street  lanterns,  and  the  fairy 
flames  on  the  low  curb-posts  (whereat  no  horse, 
though  unblinded,  ever  shies),  with  which  man  at- 
tempts, on  the  numerous  royal  festival  days  of  early 
summer,  to  rival  the  illumination  of  the  indescribably 
beautiful  tints  of  river  and  sky.  But  the  peasant- 
izvostchik  goes  off  to  the  country  to  till  his  little  patch 
of  land,  aided  by  the  shaggy  little  farm-horse,  which 
has  been  consorting  on  the  Prospe'kt  with  thorough- 
bred trotters  all  winter,  and  helping  him  to  eke  out 
his  cash  income,  scanty  at  the  best  of  times ;  or  he 
emigrates  to  a  summer  resort,  scorning  our  insinua- 
tion that  he  is  so  unfashionable  as  to  remain  in  town. 
The  deserted  Prospe'kt  is  torn  up  for  repairs.  The 
merchants,  especially  the  goldsmiths,  complain  that 
it  would  be  true  economy  for  them  to  close  their 
shops.  The  annual  troops  of  foreign  travelers  arrive, 
view  the  lovely  islands  of  the  Nev4  delta,  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  summer  cities  in  the  vicinity,  and 
dream,  ah,  vain  dream !  that  they  have  also  really 
beheld  the  Ne*vsky  Prospe'kt,  the  great  avenue  of  the 
realm  of  the  Frost  King  and  the  White  Tzar ! 1 

1  From  Scribner's  Magazine,  by  permission. 


III. 

MY  EXPERIENCE   WITH  THE    RUSSIAN   CENSOR. 

IN  spite  of  the  advantage  which  I  enjoyed  in  a 
preliminary  knowledge  of  the  Russian  language  and 
literature,  I  was  imbued  with  various  false  ideas,  the 
origin  of  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  trace  on  this 
occasion.  I  freed  myself  from  some  of  them  ;  among 
others,  from  my  theory  as  to  the  working  of  the 
censorship  in  the  case  of  foreign  literature.  My 
theory  was  the  one  commonly  held  by  Americans, 
and,  as  I  found  to  my  surprise,  by  not  a  few  Rus- 
sians, viz.,  that  books  and  periodicals  which  have 
been  wholly  or  in  part  condemned  by  the  censor  are 
to  be  procured  only  in  a  mutilated  condition,  or  by 
surreptitious  means,  or  not  at  all.  That  this  is  not 
the  case  I  acquired  ample  proof  through  my  personal 
experience. 

The  first  thing  that  an  American  does  on  his  ar- 
rival in  St.  Petersburg  is  to  scan  the  foreign  news- 
papers in  the  hotels  eagerly  for  traces  of  the  censor's 
blot,  —  le  masque  noir,  "caviare,"  •- his  idea  being 
that  at  least  one  half  of  the  page  will  be  thus  veiled 
from  sight.  But  specimens  are  not  always,  or  even 
very  often,  to  be  procured  with  ease.  In  fact,  the 
demand  exceeds  the  supply  sometimes,  if  I  may  judge 
from  my  own  observations  and  from  the  pressing 
applications  for  these  curiosities  which  I  received 
from  disappointed  seekers.  The  finest  of  these  black 


62       EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR. 

diamonds  may  generally  be  found  in  the  inventive 
news  columns  of  the  London  dailies  and  in  the  flip- 
pant paragraphs  of  "  Punch." 

Like  the  rest  of  the  world,  I  was  on  the  lookout 
for  the  censor's  work  from  the  day  of  my  arrival,  but 
it  was  a  long  time  before  my  search  was  rewarded 
by  anything  except  a  caricature  of  the  censor  him- 
self in  "  Kladderadatsch."  That  it  was  left  unmasked 
was  my  first  proof  that  that  gentleman,  individually 
and  collectively,  was  not  deficient  in  a  sense  of  hu- 
mor. The  sketch  represented  a  disheveled  scribe 
seated  three  quarters  submerged  in  a  bottle  of  ink, 
from  the  half-open  cover  of  which  his  quill  pen  pro- 
jected like  a  signal  of  distress.  This  was  accom- 
panied by  an  inscription  to  the  effect  that  as  the 
Russian  censor  had  blacked  so  many  other  people,  he 
might  now  sit  in  the  black  for  a  while  himself.  Per- 
haps the  censor  thought  that  remarks  of  that  sort 
came  with  peculiar  grace  from  martinet-ruled  Berlin. 
About  this  time  I  received  a  copy  of  the  "  Century," 
containing  —  or  rather,  not  containing  —  the  first 
article  in  the  prohibited  series  by  Mr.  Kennan.  I 
made  no  remonstrance,  but  mentioned  the  fact,  as  an 
item  of  interest,  to  the  sender,  who  forthwith  dis- 
patched the  article  in  an  envelope.  The  envelope 
being  small,  the  plump  package  had  the  appearance 
of  containing  a  couple  of  pairs  of  gloves,  or  other 
dutiable  merchandise.  Probably  that  was  the  reason 
why  the  authorities  cut  open  one  end.  Finding  that 
it  was  merely  innocent  printed  matter,  they  gave  it 
to  me  on  the  very  day  of  its  arrival  in  St.  Petersburg, 
and  thirteen  days  from  the  date  of  posting  in  New 
York.  I  know  that  it  was  my  duty  to  get  excited 
over  this  incident,  as  did  a  foreign  (that  is,  a  non- 


EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR.      63 

Russian)  acquaintance  of  mine,  when  be  received  an 
envelope  of  similar  plump  aspect  containing  a  bulky 
Christmas  card,  which  was  delivered  decorated  with 
five  very  frank  and  huge  official  seals,  after  having 
been  opened  for  contraband  goods.  I  did  not  feel 
aggrieved,  however,  and,  being  deficient  in  that  Mo- 
ther Eve  quality  which  attributes  vast  importance  to 
whatever  is  forbidden,  I  suggested  that  nothing  more 
which  was  obnoxious  to  the  Russian  government 
should  be  sent  to  me. 

But  when  a  foreigner  offered  the  magazine  to  me 
regularly,  unmutilated,  I  did  not  refuse  it.  When  a 
Russian  volunteered  to  furnish  me  with  it,  later  on, 
I  read  it.  When  I  saw  summaries  of  the  prohibited 
articles  in  the  Russian  press,  I  looked  them  over  to 
see  whether  they  were  well  done.  When  I  saw  an- 
other copy  of  the  "  Century,"  with  other  American 
magazines,  at  the  house  of  a  second  Russian,  I  did 
not  shut  my  eyes  to  the  fact,  neither  did  I  close  my 
ears  when  I  was  told  that  divers  instructors  of  youth 
in  Petersburg,  Moscow,  and  elsewhere  were  in  regu- 
lar receipt  of  it,  on  the  principle  which  is  said  to 
govern  good  men  away  from  home,  viz.,  that  in  order 
to  preach  effectively  against  evil  one  must  make  per- 
sonal acquaintance  writh  it.  I  was  also  told  at  the 
English  Bookstore  that  they  had  seven  or  eight 
copies  of  the  magazine,  which  had  been  subscribed 
for  through  them,  lying  at  the  censor's  office  await- 
ing proper  action  on  the  part  of  the  subscribers. 
What  that  action  was  I  did  not  ask  at  the  time,  in 
my  embarrassment  of  riches.  It  will  be  perceived 
that  when  we  add  the  copies  received  by  officials,  and 
those  given  to  the  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps 
who  desired  it,  there  was  no  real  dearth  of  the  "  Cen- 
tury "  at  any  time. 


64       EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR. 

About  this  time,  also,  I  had  occasion  to  hunt  up  a 
package  of  miscellaneous  newspapers,  which  had  lin- 
gered as  such  parcels  are  apt  to  linger  in  all  post- 
offices.  In  pursuance  of  my  preconceived  notions,  I 
jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  the  censor  had  them, 
regardless  of  the  contingency  that  they  might  have 
been  lost  out  of  Russia.  I  called  to  ask  for  the 
papers.  The  official  whom  I  found  explained,  with 
native  Russian  courtesy,  that  I  had  come  to  the 
wrong  place,  that  office  being  devoted  to  foreign 
matter  in  book  form  ;  but  that,  in  all  probability, 
the  papers  had  become  separated  from  their  wrapper 
in  the  newspaper  department  (which  was  heedless) 
when  they  had  been  opened  for  examination,  and 
hence  it  had  been  impossible  to  deliver  them.  Still, 
they  might  have  been  detained  for  some  good  reason, 
and  he  would  endeavor  to  find  some  record  of  them. 

While  he  was  gone,  my  eyes  fell  upon  his  account- 
book,  which  lay  open  before  me.  It  constituted  a 
sort  of  literary  book-keeping.  The  entries  showed 
what  books  had  been  received,  what  had  been  for- 
bidden, what  was  to  be  erased,  whose  property  had 
been  manipulated,  and,  most  interesting  of  all,  which 
forbidden  books  had  been  issued  by  permission,  and 
to  whom.  Among  these  I  read  the  titles  of  works 
by  Stepniak,  and  of  various  works  on  Nihilism,  all 
of  which  must  certainly  have  come  within  the  cate- 
gory of  utterly  proscribed  literature,  and  not  of  that 
which  is  promptly  forwarded  to  its  address  after  a 
more  or  less  liberal  sprinkling  of  "  caviare."  As  I 
am  not  in  the  habit  of  reading  private  records  on  the 
sly,  even  when  thus  tempted,  I  informed  the  official 
on  his  return  of  my  action,  and  asked  a  question  or 
two. 


EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR.      65 

"  Do  you  really  let  people  have  these  forbidden 
books?"  "  Certainly,"  was  his  half-surprised,  half- 
indignant  reply.  "  And  what  can  one  have  ?  "  "  Any- 
thing," said  he,  "  only  we  must,  of  course,  have  some 
knowledge  of  the  person.  What  would  you  like  ?  " 

I  could  only  express  my  regret  that  I  felt  no  crav- 
ing for  any  prohibited  literature  at  that  moment,  but 
I  told  him  that  I  would  endeavor  to  cultivate  a  taste 
in  that  direction  to  oblige  him ;  and  I  suggested 
that,  as  his  knowledge  of  me  was  confined  to  the 
last  ten  minutes,  I  did  not  quite  understand  how  he 
could  pass  judgment  as  to  what  mental  and  moral 
food  was  suited  to  my  constitution,  and  as  to  the  use 
I  might  make  of  it.  He  laughed  amiably,  and  said : 
u  Nitchevti,  —  that 's  all  right ;  you  may  have  what- 
ever you  please."  I  never  had  occasion  to  avail  my- 
self of  the  offer,  but  I  know  that  Russians  who  are- 
well  posted  do  so,  although  I  also  know  that  many 
Russians  are  not  aware  of  their  privileges  in  this 
direction.  It  is  customary  to  require  from  Russians 
who  receive  literature  of  this  sort  a  promise  that 
they  will  let  no  other  person  see  it,  —  an  engage- 
ment which  is  as  religiously  observed  as  might  be 
expected,  as  the  authorities  are  doubtless  aware. 

I  did  not  pursue  my  search  for  the  missing  papers. 
I  had  allowed  so  much  time  to  elapse  that  I  per- 
ceived the  uselessness  of  further  action  ;  they  were 
evidently  lost,  and  it  mattered  little  as  to  the  manner. 
Shortly  afterwards  I  received  the  first  of  my  only 
two  specimens  of  censorial  "  caviare."  It  was  on  a 
political  cartoon  in  a  New  York  comic  paper.  I  sent 
it  back  to  America  for  identification  of  the  picture, 
and  it  was  lost  between  New  York  and  Boston ; 
which  reconciled  me  to  the  possible  carelessness  of 


66       EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR. 

the  Russian  post-office  in  the  case  of  the  newspapers 
just  cited. 

My  next  experience  was  with  Count  Lyeff  N.  Tol- 
st<5y's  work  entitled  "  Life."  This  was  not  allowed 
to  be  printed  in  book  form,  although  nearly  the 
whole  of  it  subsequently  appeared  in  installments,  as 
"  extracts,"  in  a  weekly  journal.  I  received  the  man- 
uscript as  a  registered  mail  packet.  The  author  was 
anxious  that  my  translation  should  be  submitted  in 
the  proof-sheets  to  a  philosophical  friend  of  his  in 
Petersburg,  who  read  English,  in  order  that  the  latter 
might  see  if  I  had  caught  the  sense  of  the  somewhat 
abstract  and  complicated  propositions.  It  became  a 
problem  how  those  proof-sheets  were  to  reach  me 
safely  and  promptly.  The  problem  was  solved  by 
having  them  directed  outright  to  the  censor's  office, 
whence  they  were  delivered  to  me ;  and,  as  there 
proved  to  be  nothing  to  alter,  they  speedily  returned 
to  America  as  a  registered  parcel.  My  own  opinion 
now  is  that  they  would  not  have  reached  me  a  whit 
less  safely  or  promptly  had  they  been  addressed 
straight  to  me.  The  bound  volumes  of  my  transla- 
tion were  so  addressed  later  on,  and  I  do  not  think 
that  they  were  even  opened  at  the  office,  the  law  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

All  this  time  I  had  been  receiving  a  New  York 
weekly  paper  with  very  little  delay  and  no  mutila- 
tion. But  at  this  juncture  an  amiable  friend  sub- 
scribed in  my  name  for  the  "  Century,"  and  I  deter- 
mined to  make  a  personal  trial  of  the  workings  of 
the  censorship  in  as  strong  a  case  as  I  could  have 
found  had  I  deliberately  desired  to  invent  a  test  case. 
I  may  as  well  remark  here  that  "  the  censor  "  is 
not  the  hard- worked,  omnivorous  reader  of  moun- 


EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR.       67 

tains  of  print  and  manuscript  which  the  words  rep- 
resent to  the  mind  of  the  ordinary  foreigner.  The 
work  of  auditing  literature,  so  to  speak,  is  subdi- 
vided among  such  a  host  of  men  that  office  hours 
are  brief,  much  of  the  foreign  reading,  at  least,  is 
done  at  home,  and  the  lucky  members  of  the  com- 
mittee keep  themselves  agreeably  posted  upon  mat- 
ters in  general  while  enjoying  the  fruits  of  office. 

The  censor's  waiting-room  was  well  patronized  on 
my  arrival.  An  official  who  was  holding  a  consul- 
tation with  one  of  the  visitors  inquired  my  business. 
I  stated  it  briefly,  and  shortly  afterwards  he  retired 
into  an  adjoining  room,  which  formed  the  begin- 
ning of  a  vista  of  apartments  and  officials.  While  I 
waited,  a  couple  of  men  were  attended  to  so  near  me 
that  I  heard  their  business.  It  consisted  in  obtaining 
official  permission  to  print  the  bills  and  programmes 
of  a  musical  and  variety  entertainment.  To  this 
end  they  had  brought  not  only  the  list  of  performers 
and  proposed  selections,  but  also  the  pictures  for 
advertisement,  and  the  music  which  was  to  be  given. 
As  the  rare  traveler  who  can  read  Russian  is  already 
aware,  the  programme  of  every  public  performance 
bears  the  printed  authorization  of  the  censor,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  quite  as  much  as  does  a  book.  It 
is  an  easy  way  of  controlling  the  character  of  assem- 
blages, the  value  of  which  can  hardly  be  disputed 
even  by  those  prejudiced  persons  who  insist  upon 
seeing  in  this  Russian  proceeding  something  more 
arbitrary  than  the  ordinary  city  license  which  is  re- 
quired for  performances  elsewhere,  or  the  Lord  Cham- 
berlain's license  which  is  required  in  England.  In 
Russia,  as  elsewhere,  an  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth 
fully  a  pound  of  cure.  This,  by  the  way,  is  the  only 


68       EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR. 

form  in  which  a  foreigner  is  likely  to  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  domestic  censure  in  Russia,  unless  he 
should  wish  to  insert  an  advertisement  in  a  news- 
paper, or  issue  printed  invitations  to  a  gathering  at 
his  house,  or  send  news  telegrams.  In  these  cases  he 
may  be  obliged  to  submit  to  delay  in  the  appearance 
of  his  advertisement,  or  requested  to  go  to  the  ele- 
gance and  expense  of  engraved  invitations,  or  to  de- 
tain his  telegram  for  a  day  or  two.  Such  things  are 
not  unknown  in  Germany. 

Just  as  these  gentlemen  had  paid  their  fee,  and  re- 
signed their  documents  to  the  official  who  had  charge 
of  their  case,  another  official  issued  from  the  inner 
room,  approached  me,  requested  me  to  sign  my  name 
in  a  huge  ledger,  and,  that  being  done,  thrust  into 
my  hands  a  bulky  manuscript  and  departed.  The 
manuscript  had  a  taking  title,  but  I  did  not  pause 
to  examine  it.  Penetrating  the  inner  sanctum,  I 
brought  out  the  official  and  endeavored  to  return 
the  packet.  He  refused  to  take  it,  —  it  was  legally 
mine.  This  contest  lasted  for  several  minutes,  until 
I  saw  a  literary-looking  man  enter  from  the  ante- 
room and  look  rather  wildly  at  us.  Evidently  this 
was  the  owner,  and,  elevating  the  manuscript,  I  in- 
quired if  it  were  his.  He  hastened  to  my  assistance 
and  proved  his  rights.  But  as  erasures  do  not  look 
well  in  account-books,  and  as  my  name  already  occu- 
pied the  space  allotted  to  that  particular  parcel,  he 
was  not  requested  to  sign  for  it,  and  I  believe  that  I 
am  still  legally  qualified  to  read,  perform,  or  publish 
—  whatever  it  was —  that  talented  production. 

A  dapper  little  gentleman,  with  a  dry,  authorita- 
tive air,  then  emerged  and  assumed  charge  of  me.  I 
explained  my  desire  to  receive,  uncensured,  a  journal 
which  was  prohibited. 


EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR.      69 

"  Certainly,"  said  be,  without  inquiring  how  I 
knew  the  facts.  "  Just  write  down  your  application 
and  sign  it." 

"  I  don't  know  the  form,"  I  answered. 

He  seemed  surprised  at  my  ignorance  of  such  an 
every-day  detail,  but  fetched  paper  and  dictated  a 
petition,  which  I  wrote  down  and  signed.  When  we 
reached  the  point  where  the  name  of  the  publication 
was  to  be  inserted,  he  paused  to  ask :  "  How  many 
would  you  like  ?  " 

"  How  many  copies  of  the  '  Century '  ?  Only  one," 
said  I. 

"  No,  no  ;  how  many  periodical  publications 
would  you  like  ?  " 

"  How  many  can  I  have  on  this  petition  ?  "  I  re- 
torted in  Yankee  fashion. 

"  As  many  as  you  please.  Do  you  want  four  — 
six  — eight  ?  Write  in  the  names  legibly." 

I  gasped,  but  told  him  that  I  was  not  grasping ;  I 
preferred  to  devote  my  time  to  Russian  publications 
while  in  Russia,  and  that  I  would  only  add  the  name 
of  the  weekly  which  I  was  already  receiving,  merely 
with  the  object  of  expediting  its  delivery  a  little. 
The  document  was  then  furnished  with  the  regula- 
tion eighty-kopek  stamp  (worth  at  that  time  about 
thirty-seven  cents),  and  the  business  was  concluded. 
As  I  was  in  summer  quarters  out  of  town,  and  it  was 
not  convenient  for  me  to  call  in  person  and  inquire 
whether  permission  had  been  granted,  another  stamp 
was  added  to  insure  the  answer  being  sent  to  me. 
The  license  arrived  in  a  few  days,  and  the  magazine 
began  to  come  promptly,  unopened.  I  was  not  even 
asked  not  to  show  it  to  other  people.  I  may  state 
here  that,  while  I  never  circulated  any  of  the  numer- 


70       EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR. 

ous  prohibited  books  and  manuscripts  which  came  into 
my  possession  during  my  stay  in  Russia,  I  never  con- 
cealed them.  I  showed  the  "  Century  "  occasionally 
to  personal  friends  of  the  class  who  could  have  had 
it  themselves  had  they  taken  any  permanent  interest 
in  the  matter ;  but  it  is  certain  that  they  kept  their 
own  counsel  and  mine  in  all  respects. 

Everything  proceeded  satisfactorily  until  I  went 
to  Moscow  to  stay  for  a  time.  It  did  not  occur  to 
me  to  inform  the  censor  of  my  move,  and  the  result 
was  that  the  first  number  of  the  magazine  which  I 
received  there  was  as  fine  a  "  specimen "  as  heart 
could  desire.  The  line  on  the  title-page  which  re- 
ferred to  the  obnoxious  article  had  been  scratched 
out ;  the  body  of  the  article  had  been  cut  out ;  the 
small  concluding  portion  at  the  top  of  a  page  had 
been  artistically  "  caviared."  Of  course,  the  article 
ending  upon  the  back  of  the  first  page  extracted  had 
been  spoiled.  On  this  occasion  I  was  angry,  not  at 
the  mutilation  as  such,  but  at  the  breach  of  faith. 
I  sat  down,  while  my  wrath  was  still  hot,  and  indited 
a  letter  to  the  head  censor  in  Petersburg.  I  do  not 
recollect  the  exact  terms  of  that  letter,  but  I  know  I 
told  him  that  he  had  no  right  to  cut  the  book  after 
granting  me  leave  to  receive  it  intact,  without  first 
sending  me  word  that  he  had  changed  his  mind,  and 
giving  valid  reasons  therefor ;  that  the  course  he  had 
adopted  was  injudicious  in  the  extreme,  since  it  was 
calculated  to  arouse  curiosity  instead  of  allaying  it, 
and  that  it  would  be  much  better  policy  to  ignore  the 
matter.  I  concluded  by  requesting  him  to  restore 
the  missing  article,  if  he  had  preserved  it,  and  if 
he  had  not,  to  send  at  once  to  London  (that  being 
nearer  than  New  York)  and  order  me  a  fresh  copy 
of  the  magazine  at  his  expense. 


EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR.      71 

A  month  elapsed,  no  answer  came  ;  but  at  the  end 
of  the  month  another  mutilated  "  Century  "  arrived. 
This  time  I  waited  two  or  three  days  in  the  hope  of 
inventing  an  epistle  which  should  be  more  forcible 
-  if  such  a  thing  were  possible  —  than  my  last,  and 
yet  calm.  The  letter  was  half  written  when  an  offi- 
cial envelope  made  its  appearance  from  Petersburg, 
containing  cut  pages  and  an  apologetic  explanation 
to  the  effect  that  the  Moscow  censor,  through  an 
oversight,  had  not  been  duly  instructed  in  his  duty 
toward  me.  A  single  glance  showed  me  that  the 
inclosed  sheets  belonged  to  the  number  just  received, 
not  to  the  preceding  number.  I  drove  immediately 
to  the  Moscow  office  and  demanded  the  censor. 
"  You  can  tell  me  what  you  want  with  him,"  said  the 
ante-room  Cerberus.  "  Send  me  the  censor,"  said 
I.  After  further  repetition,  he  retired  and  sent  in  a 
man  who  requested  me  to  state  my  business.  "  You 
are  not  the  censor,"  I  said,  after  a  glance  at  him. 
"  Send  him  out,  or  I  will  go  to  him."  Then  they  de- 
cided that  I  was  a  connoisseur  in  censors,  and  the 
proper  official  made  his  appearance,  accompanied  by 
an  interpreter,  on  the  strength  of  the  foreign  name 
upon  my  card.  .Convinced  that  the  latter  would  not 
understand  English  well,  like  many  Russians  who 
can  talk  the  language  fluently  enough,  I  declined  his 
services,  produced  my  documents  from  the  Peters- 
burg censor,  and  demanded  restitution  of  the  other 
confiscated  article.  I  obtained  it,  being  allowed  my 
pick  from  a  neatly  labeled  package  of  contraband 
goods.  That  scratched,  cut,  caviared  magazine  is 
now  in  my  possession,  with  the  restored  sheets  and 
the  censor's  apology  appended.  It  is  my  proof  to 
unbelievers  that  the  Russian  censor  is  not  so  black 
as  he  is  painted. 


72       EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR. 

As  we  shook  hands  with  this  Moscow  official,  after 
a  friendly  chat,  I  asked  him  if  he  would  be  a  little 
obtuse  arithmetically  as  to  the  old  and  new  style  of 
reckoning,  and  let  me  have  my  January  "  Century  " 
if  it  arrived  before  my  departure  for  Petersburg,  as 
my  license  expired  January  1.  He  smilingly  agreed 
to  do  so.  I  also  called  on  the  Moscow  book  censor, 
to  find  some  books.  The  courtesy  and  readiness  to 
oblige  me  on  the  part  of  the  officials  had  been  so 
great,  that  I  felt  aggrieved  upon  this  occasion  when 
this  censor  requested  me  to  return  on  the  regular 
business  day,  and  declined  to  overhaul  his  whole  de- 
partment for  me  on  the  spot.  I  did  return  on  the 
proper  day,  and  watched  operations  while  due  search 
was  being  made  for  my  missing  property.  It  reached 
me  a  few  days  later,  unopened,  the  delay  having 
occurred  at  my  banker's,  not  in  the  post-office  or 
censor's  department. 

On  my  return  to  Petersburg,  my  first  visit  was  to 
the  censor's  office,  where  I  copied  my  original  peti- 
tion, signed  it,  and  dismissed  the  matter  from  my 
mind  until  my  February  "  Century "  reached  me 
with  one  article  missing  and  two  articles  spoiled.  I 
paid  another  visit  to  the  office,  and  was  informed 
that  my  petition  for  a  renewal  of  permission  had  not 
been  granted. 

"  Why  did  n't  you  send  me  word  earlier  ? "  I 
asked. 

"  We  were  not  bound  to  do  so  without  the  extra 
stamp,"  replied  my  dapper  official. 

"  But  why  has  my  application  been  refused  ?  " 

"  Too  many  people  are  seeing  that  journal ;  some 
one  must  be  refused." 

"  Nonsense,"  said  I.     "  And  if  it  is  really  so,  I  am 


EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR.      73 

not  the  proper  person  to  be  rejected.  It  will  hurt 
some  of  these  Russian  subscribers  more  than  it  will 
me,  because  it  is  only  a  question  of  when  I  shall  read 
it,  not  of  whether  I  shall  read  it  at  all.  I  wonder 
that  so  many  demoralizing  things  do  not  affect  the 
officials.  However,  that  is  not  the  point ;  pray  keep 
for  your  own  use  anything  which  you  regard  as  dele- 
terious to  me.  I  am  obliged  to  you  for  your  consid- 
eration. But  you  have  no  right  to  spoil  three  or  four 
articles ;  and  by  a  proper  use  of  scissors  and  caviare 
that  can  easily  be  avoided.  In  any  case,  it  will  be 
much  better  to  give  me  the  book  unmutilated." 

The  official  and  the  occupants  of  the  reception- 
room  seemed  to  find  my  view  very  humorous ;  but 
he  declared  that  he  had  no  power  in  the  matter. 

44  Very  well,"  said  I,  taking  a  seat.  "  I  will  see 
the  censor. 

44 1  am  the  censor,"  he  replied. 

44  Oh,  no.  I  happen  to  be  aware  that  the  head 
censor  is  expected  in  a  few  minutes,  and  I  will 
wait." 

My  (apparently)  intimate  knowledge  of  the  ways 
of  censors  again  won  the  day.  The  chief  actually 
was  expected,  and  I  was  granted  the  first  audience. 
I  explained  matters  and  repeated  my  arguments.  He 
sent  for  the  assistant. 

44  Why  was  not  this  application  granted  ?  "  he  asked 
impressively. 

44  We  don't  know,  your  Excellency,"  was  the  meek 
and  not  very  consistent  reply. 

44  You  may  go,"  said  his  Excellency.  Then  he 
turned  graciously  to  me.  44  You  will  receive  it." 

"Uncut?" 

44  Yes." 


74       EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR. 

"  But  will  they  let  me  have  it  ?  " 

"  Will  —  they  —  let  —  you  —  have  —  it  —  when  — - 
I  —  say  —  so?"  he  retorted  with  tremendous  dignity. 

Then  I  knew  that  I  should  have  no  further  trouble, 
and  I  was  right.  I  received  no  written  permission, 
but  the  magazine  was  never  interfered  with  again. 
Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  one  practically  registers 
periodicals  wholesale,  at  a  wonderfully  favorable  dis- 
count. 

During  the  whole  of  my  stay  in  Kussia  I  received 
many  books  unread,  apparently  even  unopened  to  see 
whether  they  belonged  on  the  free  list.  In  one  case, 
at  least,  volumes  which  were  posted  before  the  offi- 
cial date  of  publication  reached  me  by  the  next  city 
delivery  after  the  letter  announcing  their  dispatch. 
Books  which  were  addressed  to  me  at  the  Lega- 
tion, to  assure  delivery  when  my  exact  address  was 
unknown  or  when  my  movements  were  uncertain, 
were,  in  every  case  but  one,  sent  to  me  direct  from 
the  post-office.  I  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  I 
was  unusually  favored  in  any  way.  I  used  no  "  influ- 
ence," I  mentioned  no  influential  names,  though  I 
had  the  right  to  do  so. 

An  incident  which  procured  for  me  the  pleasure  of 
an  interview  with  the  chief  censor  for  newspapers 
and  so  forth  will  illustrate  some  of  the  erroneous 
ideas  entertained  by  strangers.  I  desired  to  send  to 
some  friends  in  Russia  a  year's  subscription  each  of 
a  certain  American  magazine,  which  sometimes  justly 
receives  a  sprinkling  of  caviare  for  its  folly,  but 
which  is  not  on  the  black  list,  and  is  fairly  well 
known  in  Petersburg.  After  some  delay  I  heard 
from  home  that  the  publishers  had  consulted  the 
United  States  postal  officials,  and  had  been  informed 


EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR.      75 

that  "  no  periodical  literature  could  be  sent  to  Rus- 
sia, this  being  strictly  prohibited."  I  took  the  letter 
to  the  newspaper  censor,  who  found  it  amusingly 
and  amazingly  stupid.  He  explained  that  the  only 
thing  which  is  absolutely  prohibited  is  Russian  text 
printed  outside  of  Russia,  which  would  never  be  de- 
livered. He  did  not  explain  the  reason,  but  I  knew 
that  he  referred  to  the  socialistic,  nihilistic,  and  other 
proscribed  works  which  are  published  in  Geneva  or 
Leipzig.  Daily  foreign  newspapers  can  be  received 
regularly  only  by  persons  who  are  duly  authorized. 
Permission  cannot  be  granted  to  receive  occasional 
packages  of  miscellaneous  contents,  the  reason  for 
this  regulation  being  very  clear.  And  all  books  must 
be  examined  if  new,  or  treated  according  to  the  place 
assigned  them  on  the  lists  if  they  have  already  had  a 
verdict  pronounced  upon  them.  I  may  add,  in  this 
connection,  that  I  had  the  magazines  I  wished  sub- 
scribed for  under  another  name,  to  avoid  the  indeli- 
cacy of  contradicting  my  fellow-countrymen.  They 
were  then  forwarded  direct  to  the  Russian  addresses, 
where  they  were  duly  and  regularly  received.  Whe- 
ther they  were  mutilated,  I  do  not  know.  They  cer- 
tainly need  not  have  been,  had  the  recipients  taken 
the  trouble  to  obtain  permission  as  I  did,  if  they  were 
aware  of  the  possibility.  It  is  probable  that  I  could 
have  obtained  permission  for  them,  had  I  not  been 
pressed  for  time. 

I  once  asked  a  member  of  the  censorship  commit- 
tee on  foreign  books  on  what  principle  of  selection 
he  proceeded.  He  said  that  disrespect  to  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Greek  Church  was  officially  prohib- 
ited ;  that  he  admitted  everything  which  did  not  err 
too  grossly  in  that  direction,  and,  in  fact,  everything 


76       EXPERIENCE  WITH  RUSSIAN  CENSOR. 

except  French  novels  of  the  modern  realistic  school. 
He  drew  the  line  at  these,  as  pernicious  to  both  men 
and  women.  He  asked  me  if  I  had  read  a  certain 
new  book  which  was  on  the  proscribed  list.  I  said 
that  I  had,  and  in  the  course  of  the  discussion  which 
ensued,  I  rose  to  fetch  the  volume  in  question  from 
the  table  behind  him  to  verify  a  passage.  (This  oc- 
curred during  a  friendly  call.)  I  recollected,  how- 
ever, that  that  copy  had  not  entered  the  country  by 
post,  and  that,  consequently,  the  name  of  the  owner 
therein  inscribed  would  not  be  found  on  the  list  of  au- 
thorized readers  any  more  than  my  own.  I  am  sure, 
however,  that  nothing  would  have  happened  if  he  had 
seen  it,  and  he  must  have  understood  my  movement. 
My  business  dealings  were  wholly  with  strangers. 

It  seems  to  be  necessary,  although  it  ought  not  to 
be  so,  to  remind  American  readers  that  Russia  is  not 
the  only  land  where  the  censorship  exists,  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent.  Even  in  the  United  States,  which  is 
popularly  regarded  as  the  land  of  unlicensed  license 
in  a  literary  sense,  — even  in  the  Boston  Public  Li- 
brary, which  is  admitted  to  be  a  model  of  good  sense 
and  wide  liberality,  —  all  books  are  not  bought  or 
issued  indiscriminately  to  all  readers,  irrespective  of 
age  and  so  forth.  The  necessity  for  making  special 
application  may,  in  some  cases,  whet  curiosity,  but  it 
also,  undoubtedly,  acts  as  a  check  upon  unhealthy 
tastes,  even  when  the  book  may  be  publicly  pur- 
chased. I  have  heard  Russians  who  did  not  wholly 
agree  with  their  own  censorship  assert,  nevertheless, 
that  a  strict  censure  was  better  than  the  total  absence 
of  it,  apparently,  in  America,  the  utterances  of  whose 
press  are  regarded  by  foreigners  in  general  as  de- 
cidedly startling.1 

1  From  The  Nation. 


IV. 

BARGAINING  IN   RUSSIA. 

IN  Russia  one  is  expected  to  bargain  and  haggle 
over  the  price  of  everything,  beginning  with  hotel  ac- 
commodations, no  matter  how  obtrusively  large  may 
be  the  type  of  the  sign  "  Prix  Fixe"  or  how  strenu- 
ous may  be  the  assertions  that  the  bottom,  price  is 
that  first  named.  If  one's  nerves  be  too  weak  to 
play  at  this  game  of  continental  poker,  he  will  proba- 
bly share  our  fate,  of  which  we  were  politely  apprised 
by  a  word  at  our  departure  from  a  hotel  where  we 
had  lived  for  three  months  — -  after  due  bargaining  — 
at  their  price.  "  If  you  come  back,  you  may  have  the 
corresponding  apartments  on  the  floor  below  [the  bel 
etage~\  for  the  same  price."  In  view  of  the  fact  that 
there  was  no  elevator,  it  will  be  perceived  that  we 
had  been  paying  from  one  third  to  one  half  too  much, 
which  was  reassuring  as  to  the  prospect  for  the  future, 
when  we  should  decide  to  return ! 

If  there  be  a  detestable  relic  of  barbarism,  it  is 
this  custom  of  bargaining  over  every  breath  one 
draws  in  life.  It  creates  a  sort  of  incessant  internal 
seething,  which  is  very  wearing  to  the  temper  and 
destructive  of  pleasure  in  traveling.  One  feels  that 
he  must  chaffer  desperately  in  the  dark,  or  pay  the 
sum  demanded  and  be  regarded  as  a  goose  fit  for  fur- 
ther plucking.  So  he  forces  himself  to  chaffer,  tries 
to  conceal  his  abhorrence  of  the  practice  and  his  in- 


78  BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA. 

experience,  and  ends,  generally,  by  being  cheated  and 
considered  a  grass-green  idiot  into  the  bargain,  which 
is  not  soothing  to  the  spirit  of  the  average  man. 
When  I  mention  it  in  this  connection  I  do  not  mean 
to  be  understood  as  confining  my  remarks  exclusively 
to  Russia ;  the  opportunities  for  being  shorn  to  the 
quick  are  unsurpassed  all  over  the  continent,  and 
"one  price  "  America's  house  is  too  vitreous  to  per- 
mit of  her  throwing  many  stones  at  foreign  lands. 
Only,  in  America,  the  custom  is  now  happily  so  obso- 
lete in  the  ordinary  transactions  of  daily  life  that  one 
is  astonished  when  he  hears,  occasionally,  a  woman 
from  the  country  ask  a  clerk  in  a  city  shop,  "  Is  that 
the  least  you  '11  take  ?  I  '11  give  you  so  much  for 
these  goods."  In  Russia,  the  surprise  would  be  on 
the  other  side. 

The  next  time  I  had  occasion  to  hire  quarters  in  a 
hotel  for  a  sojourn  of  any  length  I  resorted  to  strat- 
agem, by  way  of  giving  myself  an  object  lesson.  I 
looked  at  the  rooms,  haggled  them  down,  on  principle, 
to  what  seemed  to  me  really  the  very  lowest  notch 
of  price  ;  I  was  utterly  worn  out  before  this  was 
accomplished.  I  even  flattered  myself  that  I  had 
done  nearly  as  well  as  a  native  could  have  done,  and 
was  satisfied.  But  I  sternly  carried  out  my  experi- 
ment. I  did  not  close  the  bargain.  I  asked  Princess 
to  try  her  experienced  hand.  Result,  she  se- 
cured the  best  accommodations  in  the  house  for  less 
than  half  the  rate  at  which  I  had  been  so  proud  of 
obtaining  inferior  quarters  !  When  we  moved  in, 
the  landlord  was  surprised,  but  he  grasped  the  point 
of  the  transaction,  and  seemed  to  regard  it  as  a  pleas- 
ant jest  against  him,  and  to  respect  us  the  more  for 
having  outwitted  him.  The  Princess  apologized  for 


BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA.  79 

having  made  such  bad  terms  for  us,  and  meant  it ! 
I  suspect  that  that  was  a  very  fair  sample  of  the 
comparative  terms  obtained  by  natives  and  outsiders 
in  all  bargains. 

It  is  one  of  those  things  at  which  one  smiles  or 
fumes,  according  to  the  force  of  the  instinct  for  jus- 
tice with  which  he  has  been  blessed  —  or  cursed  — 
by  nature.  Nothing,  unless  it  be  a  healthy,  athletic 
conscience,  is  so  wofully  destructive  of  all  happi- 
ness and  comfort  in  this  life  as  a  keen  sense  of 
justice ! 

There  are,  it  is  true,  persons  in  Russia  who  scorn 
to  bargain  as  much  as  did  the  girl  of  the  merchant 
class  in  one  of  Ostrovsky's  famous  comedies,  who 
was  so  generous  as  to  blush  with  shame  for  the  peo- 
ple whom  she  heard  trying  to  beat  down  exorbitant 
prices  in  the  shops,  or  whom  she  saw  taking  their 
change.  The  merchant's  motto  is,  "A  thing  is 
worth  all  that  can  be  got  for  it."  Consequently,  it 
never  occurs  to  him  that  even  competition  is  a  reason 
for  being  rational.  One  striking  case  of  this  in  my 
own  experience  was  provided  by  a  hardware  mer- 
chant, in  whose  shop  I  sought  a  spirit  lamp.  The 
lamps  he  showed  me  were  not  of  the  sort  I  wished, 
and  the  price  struck  me  as  exorbitant,  although  I 
was  not  informed  as  to  that  particular  subject.  I 
offered  these  suggestions  to  the  fat  merchant  in  a 
mild  manner,  and  added  that  I  would  look  elsewhere 
before  deciding  upon  his  wares. 

"  You  will  find  none  elsewhere,"  roared  the  mer- 
chant —  previously  soft  spoken  as  the  proverbial 
sucking  dove  —  through  his  bushy  beard,  in  a  voice 
which  would  have  done  credit  to  the  proto-deacon  of 
a  cathedral.  "  And  not  one  kopek  will  I  abate  of 


80  BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA. 

my  just  price,  yay  Bogu!  [God  is  my  witness!] 
They  cost  me  that  sum  ;  I  am  actually  making  you 
a  present  of  them  out  of  my  profound  respect  for 
you,  suddrynya  !  [He  had  called  me  Madame  be- 
fore that,  but  now  he  lowered  my  social  rank  to  that 
of  a  merchant's  wife,  out  of  revenge.]  And  you  will 
be  pleased  not  to  come  back  if  you  don't  find  a  lamp 
to  suit  your  peculiar  taste,  for  I  will  not  sell  to  you. 
I  won't  have  people  coming  here  and  looking  at 
things  and  then  not  buying !  " 

It  was  obviously  my  turn  to  retort,  but  I  let  the 
merchant  have  the  last  word  —  temporarily.  In  ten 
minutes  another  shopkeeper  offered  me  lamps  of  iden- 
tical quality  and  pattern  at  one  half  his  price,  and  I 
purchased  one,  such  as  I  wished,  of  a  different  design 
for  a  small  sum  extra.  I  may  have  been  cheated, 
but,  under  the  circumstances,  I  was  satisfied. 

Will  it  be  believed  ?  Bushybeard  was  lying  in  wait 
for  me  at  the  door,  ready  to  receive  me,  wreathed  in 
smiles  which  I  can  describe  only  by  the  detestable 
adjective  "affable,"  as  I  took  pains  to  pass  his  estab- 
lishment on  my  way  back.  Then  the  spirit  of  mis- 
chief entered  into  me.  I  reciprocated  his  smiles  and 
said:  "  Ivan  Babiirin,  at  shop  No.  8,  round  the  cor- 
ner, has  dozens  of  lamps  such  as  you  deal  in,  for  half 
the  price  of  yours.  You  might  be  able  to  get  them 
even  cheaper,  if  you  know  how  to  haggle  well.  But 
I  'm  afraid  you  don't,  for  you  seem  to  have  been 
horribly  cheated  in  your  last  trade,  when  you  bought 
your  present  stock  at  the  price  you  mentioned.  How 
could  any  one  have  the  conscience  to  rob  an  honest, 
innocent  man  like  you  so  dreadfully  ?  " 

He  looked  dazed,  and  the  last  time  I  cast  a  furtive 
glance  behind  me  he  had  not  recovered  sufficiently 


BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA.  81 

to  dash  after  me  and  overwhelm  me  with  protesta- 
tions of  his  uprightness,  yay  Btigu!  and  other  lingual 
cascades. 

From  the  zest  with  which  I  have  beheld  a  shopman 
and  a  customer  waste  half  an  hour  chaffering  an  article 
up  and  down  five  kopeks  (two  and  a  half  cents  or 
less),  I  am  convinced  that  they  enjoy  the  excitement 
of  it,  and  that  time  is  cheap  enough  with  them  to 
allow  them  to  indulge  in  this  exhilarating  practice. 

What  is  the  remedy  for  this  state  of  things  ?  How 
are  foreigners,  who  pride  themselves  on  never  giving 
more  than  the  value  of  an  article,  to  protect  them- 
selves? There  is  no  remedy,  I  should  say.  One 
must  haggle,  haggle,  haggle,  and  submit.  Guides 
are  useless  and  worse,  as  they  probably  share  in  the 
shopkeeper's  profit,  and  so  raise  prices.  Recom- 
mendations of  shops  from  guides  or  hotels  are  to  be 
disregarded.  Not  that  they  are  worthless,  —  quite 
the  reverse ;  only  their  value  does  not  accrue  to  the 
stranger,  but  to  the  other  parties.  It  may  well  be, 
as  veteran  travelers  affirm,  that  one  is  compelled  to 
contribute  to  this  mutual  benefit  association  in  any 
case ;  but  there  is  a  sort  of  satisfaction  after  all  in 
imagining  that  one  is  a  free  and  independent  being, 
and  going  to  destruction  in  his  own  way,  unguided, 
while  he  gets  a  little  amusement  out  of  his  own 
shearing. 

Any  one  who  really  likes  bargaining  will  get  his  . 
fill  in  Russia,  every  time  he  sets  foot  out  of  doors,  if  ' 
he  wishes  merely  to  take  a  ride.     There  are  days,  it 
is  true,  when  all  the  cabmen  in  town  seem  to  have 
entered  into  a  league  and  agreed  to  demand  a  ruble 
for  a  drive  of  half  a  dozen  blocks  ;  and  again,  though 
rarely,  they  will  offer  to  carry  one  miles  for  one  fifth 


82  BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA. 

of  that  sum,  which  is  equally  unreasonable  in  the 
other  direction.  In  either  case  one  has  his  bargain- 
ing sport,  at  one  end  of  the  journey  or  the  other.  I 
find  among  my  notes  an  illustration  of  this  operation, 
which,  however,  falls  far  short  of  a  conversation 
which  I  once  overheard  between  a  lower-class  official 
and  an  izv6stchik^  who  could  not  come  to  terms.  It 
ended  in  the  uniformed  official  exclaiming :  "  You 
ask  too  much.  I  '11  use  my  own  horses,"  raising  a 
large  foot,  and  waving  it  gently  at  the  cabmen. 

"  Home-made  !  "  (literally,  "  self-grown  ")  retorted 
one  izvdstchik.  The  rival  bidders  for  custom  shrieked 
with  laughter  at  his  wit,  the  official  fled,  and  I  tried 
in  vain  —  wonderful  to  relate  —  to  get  the  attention 
of  the  group  and  offer  them  a  fresh  opportunity  for 
discussion  by  trying  to  hire  one  of  them. 

My  note-book  furnishes  the  following :  "  If  any- 
body wants  a  merry  izvtistchik,  with  a  stylish  flour- 
ishing red  beard,  I  can  supply  him.  I  do  not  own 
the  man  at  present,  but  he  has  announced  his  firm 
intention  of  accompanying  me  to  America.  I  asked 
him  how  he  would  get  along  without  knowing  the 
language  ? 

"  '  I  'd  serve  you  forever  ! '  said  he. 

"  '  How  could  I  send  you  on  an  errand  ?  '  said  I. 

"  '  I  'd  serve  you  forever  !  '  said  he. 

"  That  was  the  answer  to  every  objection  on  my 
part.  He  and  a  black-haired  izvdstchik  have  a  fight 
for  my  custom  nearly  every  time  I  go  out.  Fighting 
for  custom  —  in  words  —  is  the  regular  thing,  but 
the  way  these  men  do  it  convulses  with  laughter 
everybody  within  hearing,  which  is  at  least  half  a 
block.  It  is  the  fashion  here  to  take  an  interest  in 
chafferings  with  cabmen  and  in  other  street  scenes. 


BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA.  83 

"  '  She  's  to  ride  with  me  ! '  shouts  one.  '  Barynya, 
I  drove  you  to  Vasfly  Island  one  day,  you  remem- 
ber ! '  *  She  's  going  with  me  ;  you  get  out ! '  yells 
the  other.  'She  drove  on  the  Ne*vsky  with  me  long 
before  she  ever  saw  you  ;  did  n't  you,  barynya  ?  and 
the  Lite*inaya,'  and  so  on  till  he  has  enumerated 
more  streets  than  I  have  ever  heard  of.  '  And  we  're 
old,  old  friends,  are  n't  we,  barynya  f  And  look  at 
my  be-e-autiful  horse  ! ' 

" '  Your  horse  looks  like  a  soiled  and  faded  glove,' 
I  retort,  '  and  I  won't  have  you  fight  over  me.  Set- 
tle it  between  yourselves,'  and  I  walk  off  or  take 
another  man,  neither  proceeding  being  favorably  re- 
garded. If  any  one  will  rid  me  of  Redbeard  I  will 
sell  him  for  his  passage -money  to  America.  I  am 
also  open  to  offers  for  Blackboard,  as  he  has  an- 
nounced his  intention  of  lying  in  wait  for  me  at  the 
door  every  day,  as  a  cat  sits  before  a  mouse's  hole." 
Vanka  (the  generic  name  for  all  izvtistcliiki)  gets 
about  four  dollars  or  four  dollars  and  a  half  a  month 
from  his  employer,  when  he  does  not  own  his  equipage. 
In  return  he  is  obliged  to  hand  in  about  a  dollar  and 
a  quarter  a  day  on  ordinary  occasions,  a  dollar  and 
a  half  on  the  days  preceding  great  festivals,  and  two 
dollars  and  a  half  on  festival  days.  If  he  does  not 
contrive  to  extract  the  necessary  amount  from  his 
fares,  his  employer  extracts  it  from  his  wages,  in  the 
shape  of  a  fine.  The  men  told  me  this.  As  there 
are  no  fixed  rates  in  the  great  cities,  a  bargain  must 
be  struck  every  time,  which  begins  by  the  man  de- 
manding twice  or  thrice  the  proper  price,  and  ends 
in  your  paying  it  if  you  are  not  familiar  with  ac- 
cepted standards  and  distances,  and  in  selling  your- 
self at  open-air  auction  to  the  lowest  bidder,  acting 


84  BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA. 

as  your  own  auctioneer,  in  case  you  are  conversant 
with  matters  in  general/ 

Foreigners  can  also  study  the  bargaining  process 
at  its  best  —  or  worst  —  in  the  purchase  of  furs.  The 
Nev&  freezes  over,  as  a  rule,  about  the  middle  of 
November,  and  snow  conies  to  stay,  after  occasional 
light  flurries  in  September  and  October,  a  little  later. 
Sometimes,  however,  the  river  closes  as  early  as  the 
end  of  September,  or  as  late  as  within  a  few  days  of 
Christmas.  Or  the  rain,  which  begins  in  October, 
continues  at  intervals  into  the  month  of  January. 
The  price  of  food  goes  up,  frozen  provisions  for  the 
poorer  classes  spoil,  and  more  suffering,  and  illness 
ensue  than  when  the  normal  Arctic  winter  prevails. 
In  spite  of  the  cold,  one  is  far  more  comfortable  than 
in  warmer  climes.  The  "stone"  houses  are  built 
with  double  walls,  three  or  four  feet  apart,  of  brick 
or  rubble  covered  with  mastic.  The  space  between 
the  walls  is  filled  in,  and,  in  the  newer  buildings, 
apertures  with  ventilators  near  the  ceilings  take  the 
place  of  movable  panes  in  the  double  windows.  The 
space  between  the  windows  is  filled  with  a  deep 
layer  of  sand,  in  which  are  set  small  tubes  of  salt  to 
keep  the  glass  clear,  and  a  layer  of  snowy  cotton 
wadding  on  top  makes  a  warm  and  appropriate  finish. 
The  lower  classes  like  to  decorate  their  wadding  with 
dried  grasses,  colored  paper,  and  brilliant  odds  and 
ends,  in  a  sort  of  toy-garden  arrangement.  The 
cracks  of  the  windows  are  filled  with  putty  or  some 
other  solid  composition,  over  which  are  pasted  broad 
strips  of  coarse  white  linen.  The  India  rubber  and 
other  plants  which  seem  so  inappropriately  placed,  in 
view  of  the  brief  and  scant  winter  light,  in  reality 
serve  two  purposes  —  that  of  decoration  and  that  of 


BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA.  85 

keeping  people  at  a  respectful  distance  from  the  win- 
dows, because  the  cold  and  wind  pass  through  the 
glass  in  dangerous  volume. 

Carpets  are  rare.  Inlaid  wooden  floors,  with  or 
without  rugs,  are  the  rule.  Birch  wood  is,  practi- 
cally, the  exclusive  material  for  heating.  Coal  from 
South  Russia  is  too  expensive  in  St.  Petersburg ;  and 
imported  coal  is  of  the  lignite  order,  and  far  from 
satisfactory  even  for  use  in  the  open  grates,  which 
are  often  used  for  beauty  and  to  supplement  the 
stoves. 

In  the  olden  times,  the  beautifully  colored  and 
ornamented  tile  stoves  were  built  with  a  "  stove 
bench,"  also  of  tiles,  near  the  floor,  on  which  people 
could  sleep.  Nowadays,  only  peasants  sleep  on  the 
stove,  and  they  literally  sleep  on  top  of  the  huge, 
mud-plastered  stone  oven,  close  to  the  ceiling.  In 
dwellings  other  than  peasant  huts,  what  is  known 
as  the  "  German  stove  "  is  in  use.  Each  stove  is 
built  through  the  wall  to  heat  two  rooms,  or  a  room 
and  corridor.  The  yard  porter  brings  up  ten  or 
twelve  birch  logs,  of  moderate  girth,  peels  off  a  little 
bark  to  use  as  kindling,  and  in  ten  minutes  there  is 
a  roaring  fire.  The  door  is  left  open,  and  the  two 
draught  covers  from  the  flues  —  which  resemble  the 
covers  of  a  range  in  shape  and  size  —  are  taken  out 
until  the  wood  is  reduced  to  glowing  coals,  which  no 
longer  emit  blue  flames.  Then  the  door  is  closed,  the 
flue  plates  are  replaced,  and  the  stove  radiates  heat 
for  twenty-four  hours,  forty-eight  hours,  or  longer, 
according  to  the  weather  and  the  taste  of  the  persons 
concerned,  —  Russian  rooms  not  being  kept  nearly 
so  hot  as  American  rooms. 

In  this  soft,  delightful,   and  healthy  heat,  heavy 


86  BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA. 

underclothing  is  a  misery.  Very  few  Russians  wear 
anything  but  linen,  and  foreigners  who  have  been 
used  to  wear  flannels  generally  are  forced  to  abandon 
them  in  Russia.  Hence  the  necessity  for  wrapping 
up  warmly  when  one  goes  out. 

Whatever  the  caprices  of  the  weather,  during  the 
winter,  according  to  the  almanac,  furs  are  required, 
especially  by  foreigners,  from  the  middle  of  October 
or  earlier  until  May.  People  who  come  from  South- 
ern climes,  with  the  memory  of  the  warm  sun  still 
lingering  in  their  veins,  endure  their  first  Russian 
winter  better  than  the  winters  which  follow,  provided 
their  rashness,  especially  during  the  treacherous 
spring  or  autumn,  does  not  kill  them  off  promptly. 
Therefore,  the  wise  foreigner  who  arrives  in  autumn 
sallies  forth  at  once  in  quest  of  furs.  He  will  get 
plenty  of  bargaining  and  experience  thrown  in. 

First  of  all,  he  finds  that  he  must  reconstruct  his 
ideas  about  furs.  If  he  be  an  American,  his  first 
discovery  is  that  his  favorite  sealskin  is  out  of  the 
race  entirely.  No  Russian  would  pay  the  price 
which  is  given  for  sealskin  in  return  for  such  a 
"  cold  fur,"  nor  would  he  wear  it  on  the  outside  for 
display,  while  it  would  be  too  tender  to  use  as  a  lin- 
ing. Sealskin  is  good  only  for  a  short  jacket  be- 
tween seasons  for  walking,  and  if  one  sets  out  on 
foot  in  that  garb  she  must  return  on  foot ;  she  would 
be  running  a  serious  risk  if  she  took  a  carriage  or 
sjedge.  All  furs  are  used  for  linings;  in  short,  by 
thus  reversing  nature's  arrangement,  one  obtains  the 
natural  effect,  and  wears  the  fur  next  his  skin,  as  the 
original  owner  of  the  pelt  did.  Squirrel  is  a  "  cold," 
cheap  fur,  used  by  laundresses  and  the  like,  while 
mink,  also  reckoned  as  a  "cold  "fur,  though  more 


BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA.  87 

expensive,  is  used  by  men  only,"  as  is  the  pretty 
mottled  skin  obtained  by  piecing  together  sable  paws. 
The  cheapest  of  the  u  downy"  furs,  which  are  the 
proper  sort  for  the  climate,  is  the  brown  goat,  that 
constantly  reminds  its  owner  of  the  economy  prac- 
ticed, by  its  weight  and  characteristic  strong  smell, 
though  it  has  the  merit  of  being  very  warm.  Next 
come  the  various  grades  of  red  fox  fur,  —  those  abun- 
dantly furnished  with  hair,  where  the  red  is  pale  and 
small  in  area,  and  the  gray  patches  are  large  and 
dark,  being  the  best.  The  kftni,  which  was  the  unit 
of  currency  in  olden  days,  and  was  used  by  royalty, 
is  the  next  in  value,  and  is  costly  if  dark,  and  with 
a  tough,  light-weight  skin,  which  is  an  essential  item 
of  consideration  for  the  necessary  large  cloaks.  Sa- 
bles, rich  and  dark,  are  worn,  like  the  ktini,  by  any 
one  who  can  afford  them,  —  court  dames,  cavaliers, 
archbishops,  and  merchants,  or  their  wives  and  daugh- 
ters, —  while  the  climax  of  beauty  and  luxury  is  at- 
tained in  the  black  fox  fur,  soft  and  delicate  as  feath- 
ers, warm  as  a  July  day.  The  silky,  curly  white 
Thibetan  goat,  and  the  thick,  straight  white  fur  of 
the  psetz,  make  beautiful  evening  wraps  for  women, 
under  velvets  of  delicate  hues,  and  are  used  by  day 
also,  though  they  are  attended  by  the  inconvenience 
of  requiring  frequent  cleaning.  Cloth  or  velvet  is 
the  proper  covering  for  all  furs,  and  the  colors  worn 
for  driving  are  often  gay  or  light.  A  layer  of  wad- 
ding between  the  fur  and  the  covering  adds  warmth, 
and  makes  the  circular  mantle  called  a  rotunda  set 
properly.  These  sleeveless  circular  cloaks  are  not  fit 
for  anything  but  driving,  however,  although  they  are 
lapped  across  the  breast  and  held  firmly  in  place 
by  the  crossed  arms,  —  a  weary  task,  since  they  fall 


88  BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA. 

open  at  every  breeze  when  the  wearer  is  on  foot, 
—  but  they  possess  the  advantage  over  a  cloak  with 
sleeves  that  they  can  be  held  high  around  the  ears 
and  head  at  will.  The  most  inveterate  "  shopper  " 
would  be  satisfied  with  the  amount  of  running  about 
and  bargaining  which  can  be  got  out  of  buying  a  fur 
cloak  and  a  cap  ! 

The  national  cap  has  a  soft  velvet  crown,  sur- 
rounded by  a  broad  band  of  sable  or  otter,  is  always 
in  fashion,  and  lasts  forever.  People  who  like  va- 
riety buy  each  year  a  new  cap,  made  of  black  Per- 
sian lambskin,  which  resembles  in  shape  that  worn 
by  the  Kaz^ks,  though  the  shape  is  modified  every 
year  by  the  thrifty  shopkeepers. 

The  possibilities  for  self  delusion,  and  delusion 
from  the  other  quarter,  as  to  price  and  quality  of 
these  fur  articles,  is  simply  enormous.  I  remember 
the  amusing  tags  fastened  to  every  cloak  in  the  shop 
of  a  certain  fashionable  furrier  in  Moscow,  where 
"  asking  price  "  and  "  selling  price "  were  plainly 
indicated.  By  dint  of  inquiry  I  found  that  "  paying 
price  "  was  considerably  below  "  selling  price."  Mos- 
cow is  the  place,  by  the  way,  to  see  the  coats  in- 
tended for  "  really  cold  weather  "  journeys,  made  of 
bear  skin  and  of  reindeer  skin,  impervious  to  cold, 
lined  with  downy  Siberian  rat  or  other  skins,  which 
one  does  not  see  in  Petersburg  shops. 

The  furs  and  the  Russians'  sensible  manner  of  dress- 
ing in  general,  which  I  have  described,  have  much  to 
do  with  their  comfort  and  freedom  from  colds.  No 
Russian  enters  a  room,  theatre,  or  public  hall  at  any 
season  of  the  year  with  his  cloak  and  overshoes,  and 
no  well-trained  servant  would  allow  an  ignorant  for- 
eigner to  trifle  with  his  health  by  so  doing.  Even 


BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA.  89 

the  foreign  churches  are  provided  with  cloak-rooms 
and  attendants.  And  the  Russian  churches?  On 
grand  occasions,  when  space  is  railed  off  for  officials 
or  favored  guests,  cloak-racks  and  attendants  are 
provided  near  the  door  for  the  privileged  ones,  who 
must  display  their  uniforms  and  gowns  as  a  matter 
of  state  etiquette.  The  women  find  the  light  shawl 
—  which  they  wear  under  their  fur  to  preserve  the 
gown  from  hairs,  to  shield  the  chest,  and  for  precisely 
such  emergencies  —  sufficient  protection.  On  ordinary 
occasions,  people  who  do  not  keep  a  lackey  to  hold 
their  cloaks  just  inside  the  entrance  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  practice  Russian  endurance,  and  unless  the 
crowd  is  very  dense,  the  large  and  lofty  space  ren- 
ders it  quite  possible,  though  the  churches  are  heated, 
to  retain  the  fur  cloak ;  but  it  is  not  healthy,  and 
not  always  comfortable.  It  would  not  be  possible  to 
provide  cloak-rooms  and  attendants  for  the  thousands 
upon  thousands  who  attend  church  service  on  Sun- 
days and  holidays.  With  the  foreign  churches,  whose 
attendance  is  limited  comparatively,  it  is  a  different 
matter. 

One  difficulty  about  foreigners  visiting  Russia  in 
winter  is,  that  those  who  come  for  a  short  visit  are 
rarely  willing  to  go  to  the  expense  of  the  requisite 
furs.  In  general,  they  are  so  reckless  of  their  health 
as  to  inspire  horror  in  any  one  who  is  acquainted 
with  the  treacherous  climate.  I  remember  a  couple 
of  Americans,  who  resisted  all  remonstrances  because 
they  were  on  their  way  to  a  warmer  clime,  and  went 
about  when  the  thermometer  was  twenty-five  to  thirty 
degrees  below  zero  Reaumur,  in  light,  un wadded 
mantles,  reaching  only  to  the  waist  line,  and  with 
loose  sleeves.  A  Russian  remarked  of  them  :  "  They 


90  BARGAINING  IN  RUSSIA. 

might  have  shown  some  respect  for  the  climate,  and 
have  put  on  flannel  compresses,  or  a  mustard  plaster 
at  least !  "  Naturally,  an  illness  was  the  result.  If 
such  people  would  try  to  bargain  for  the  very  hand- 
some and  stylish  coffins  which  they  would  consider 
in  keeping  with  their  dignity,  they  would  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  furs  would  prove  cheaper  and 
less  troublesome.  But  furs  or  coffins,  necessaries  or 
luxuries,  everything  must  be  bargained  for  in  Holy 
Russia,  and  with  the  American  affection  for  the  na- 
tional game  of  poker,  that  should  not  constitute  an 
objection  to  the  country.  Only  non-card-players  will 
mind  such  a  trifle  as  bluff.1 

1  Reprinted,  in  part,  from  Lippincott's  Magazine. 


V. 

EXPEEIENCES. 

So  much  has  been  said  about  the  habits  of  the  late 
Emperor  Alexander  III.  in  his  capital,  that  a  brief 
statement  of  them  will  not  be  out  of  place,  especially 
as  I  had  one  or  two  experiences,  in  addition  to  the 
ordinary  opportunities  afforded  by  a  long  visit  and 
knowledge  of  the  language  and  manners  of  the 
people. 

When  the  Emperor  was  in  St.  Petersburg,  he  drove 
about  freely  every  day  like  a  private  person.  He 
was  never  escorted  or  attended  by  guards.  In  place 
of  a  lackey  a  Kazdk  orderly  sat  beside  the  coach- 
man. The  orderlies  of  no  other  military  men  wore 
the  Kazak  uniform.  Any  one  acquainted  with  this 
fact,  or  with  the  Emperor's  face,  could  recognize  him 
as  he  passed.  There  was  no  other  sign;  even  the 
soldiers,  policemen,  and  gendarmes  gave  him  the 
same  salute  which  they  gave  to  every  general.  At 
Peterhoff,  in  summer,  he  often  drove,  equally  unes- 
corted, to  listen  to  the  music  in  the  palace  park, 
which  was  open  to  all  the  public. 

On  occasions  of  state  or  ceremony,  such  as  a  royal 
wedding  or  the  arrival  of  the  Shah  of  Persia,  troops 
lined  the  route  of  the  procession,  as  part  of  the  show, 
and  to  keep  the  quiet  but  vigorously  surging  masses 
of  spectators  in  order;  just  as  the  police  keep  order 
on  St.  Patrick's  Day  in  New  York,  or  as  the  militia 


92  EXPERIENCES. 

kept  order  and  made  part  of  the  show  during  the 
land  naval  parade  at  the  Columbian  festivities  in 
New  York.  On  such  occasions  the  practice  as  to 
allowing  spectators  on  balconies,  windows,  and  roofs 
varied.  For  example,  during  the  Emperor's  recent 
funeral  procession  in  Moscow,  roofs,  balconies,  open 
windows,  and  every  point  of  vantage  were  occupied 
by  spectators.  In  St.  Petersburg,  the  public  was 
forbidden  to  occupy  roofs,  balconies,  lamp-posts,  or 
railings,  and  it  was  ordered  that  all  windows  should 
be  shut,  though,  as  usual,  no  restriction  was  placed 
on  benches,  stools,  and  other  aids  to  a  view.  A  few 
days  later,  when  the  Emperor  Nicholas  II.  drove  from 
his  wedding  in  the  Winter  Palace  to  the  Anitchkoff 
Palace,  roofs,  balconies,  and  open  windows  were 
crowded  with  spectators.  I  saw  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander III.  from  an  open  balcony,  and  behind  closed 
windows. 

On  the  regular  festivals  and  festivities,  such  as  St. 
George's  Day,  New  Year's  Day,  the  Epiphany  (the 
"  Jordan,"  or  Blessing  of  the  Neva),  the  state  balls, 
Easter,  and  so  forth,  every  one  knew  where  to  look  for 
the  Emperor,  and  at  what  hour.  The  official  notifi- 
cations in  the  morning  papers,  informing  members  of 
the  Court  at  what  hour  and  place  to  present  them- 
selves, furnished  a  good  guide  to  the  Emperor's  move- 
ments for  any  one  who  did  not  already  know.  On 
such  days  the  approaches  to  the  Winter  Palace  were 
kept  open  for  the  guests  as  they  arrived;  the  crowd 
was  always  enormous,  especially  at  the  "  Jordan." 
Bu£  as  soon  as  royalties  and  guests  had  arrived,  and, 
on  the  "  Jordan  "  day,  as  soon  as  the  Neva  had  been 
blessed,  ordinary  traffic  was  resumed  on  sidewalks  of 
the  Winter  Palace  (those  of  the  Anitchkoff  Palace, 


EXPERIENCES.  93 

where  the  Emperor  lived,  were  never  cut  off  from 
public  use),  on  streets,  and  Palace  Square.  Royal- 
ties and  guests  departed  quietly  at  their  pleasure. 

I  was  driving  down  the  Ne*vsky  Prospe'kt  on  the 
afternoon  of  New  Year's  Day,  1889,  when,  just  at  the 
gate  of  the  Anitchkoff  Palace,  a  policeman  raised  his 
hand,  and  my  sledge  and  the  whole  line  behind  me 
halted.  I  looked  round  to  see  the  reason,  and  beheld 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  sitting  beside  me  in  tlie 
semi-state  cream-colored  carriage,  painted  with  a  big 
coat  of  arms,  its  black  hood  studded  with  golden 
doubleheaded  eagles,  which  the  present  Emperor 
used  on  his  wedding  day.  A  coachman,  postilion, 
and  footman  constituted  the  sole  "  guard,"  while  tbe 
late  prefect,  General  Gresser,  in  an  open  calash  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  behind,  constituted  the  "  armed 
escort."  They  were  on  the  roadway  next  to  the 
horse-car  track,  which  is  reserved  for  private  equi- 
pages, and  had  to  cross  the  lines  of  public  sledges 
next  to  the  sidewalk.  On  other  occasions,  such  as 
launches  of  ironclad  war  vessels,  the  expected  pres- 
ence of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  was  announced  in 
the  newspapers.  It  was  easy  enough  to  calculate 
the  route  and  the  hour,  if  one  wished  to  see  them.  I 
frequently  made  such  calculations,  in  town  and  coun- 
try, and,  stranger  though  I  was,  I  never  made  a  mis- 
take. When  cabinet  ministers  or  high  functiona- 
ries of  the  Court  died,  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
attended  one  of  the  services  before  the  funeral,  and 
the  funeral.  Thousands  of  people  calculated  the 
hour,  and  the  best  spot  to  see  them  with  absolute 
accuracy.  At  one  such  funeral,  just  after  rumors  of 
a  fresh  "  plot  "  had  been  rife,  I  saw  the  great  crowd 
surge  up  with  a  cheer  towards  the  Emperor's  car- 


94  EXPERIENCES. 

riage,  though  the  Russians  are  very  quiet  in  public. 
The  police  who  were  guarding  the  route  of  the  pro- 
cession stood  still  and  smiled  approvingly. 

But  sometimes  the  streets  through  which  the  Em- 
peror Alexander  III.  was  to  pass  were  temporarily 
forbidden  to  the  public;  such  as  the  annual  mass  and 
parade  of  the  regiments  of  the  Guards  in  their  great 
riding-schools,  and  a  few  more.  I  know  just  how 
that  device  worked,  because  I  put  it  to  the  proof 
twice,  with  amusing  results. 

The  first  time  it  was  in  this  wise :  There  exists  in 
St.  Petersburg  a  Ladies'  Artistic  Circle,  which  meets 
once  a  week  all  winter,  to  draw  from  models.  Social 
standing  as  well  as  artistic  talent  is  requisite  in  mem- 
bers of  this  society,  to  which  two  or  three  Grand 
Duchesses  have  belonged,  or  do  belong.  The  product 
of  their  weekly  work,  added  to  gifts  from  each  mem- 
ber, is  exhibited,  sold,  and  raffled  for  each  spring,  the 
proceeds  being  devoted  to  helping  needy  artists  by 
purchasing  for  them  canvas,  paints,  and  so  forth,  to 
clothing  and  educating  their  children,  or  aiding  them 
in  a  dozen  different  ways,  such  as  paying  house-rent, 
doctor's  bills,  pensions,  and  so  forth,  to  the  amount 
of  a  great  many  thousand  dollars  every  year.  When 
I  was  in  Petersburg,  the  exhibitions  took  place  in  the 
ballroom  and  drawing-room  of  one  grand  ducal  palace, 
while  the  home  and  weekly  meetings  were  in  the 
palace  of  the  Grand  Duchess  Ekaterina  Mikhailovna, 
now  dead.  An  amiable  poet,  Yakoff  Petrovitch,  in- 
vited me  to  attend  one  of  these  meetings,  —  a  number 
of  men  being  honorary  members,  though  the  women 
manage  everything  themselves,  —  but  illness  pre- 
vented my  accompanying  him  on  the  evening  ap- 
pointed for  our  visit.  He  told  me,  therefore,  to  keep 


EXPERIENCES.  95 

my  invitation  card.  Three  months  elapsed  before  cir- 
cumstances permitted  me  to  use  it. 

One  evening,  on  my  way  from  an  informal  call  of 
farewell  on  a  friend  who  was  about  to  set  out  for  the 
Crimea,  I  ordered  my  izvtistchik  to  drive  rne  to  the 
Michael  Palace.  We  were  still  at  some  distance 
from  the  palace  when  a  policeman  spoke  to  the 
izvrfstchik)  who  drove  on  instead  of  turning  that 
corner,  as  he  had  been  on  the  point  of  doing. 

44  Why  don't  you  go  on  up  that  street  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Impossible !  Probably  the  Hosuddr  [Emperor] 
is  coming,"  answered  cabby. 

"  Whither  is  he  going  ?  " 

"  We  don't  know,"  replied  cabby,  in  true  Russian 
style. 

"But  I  mean  to  go  to  that  palace,  all  the  same," 
said  I. 

"  Of  course,"  said  cabby  tranquilly,  turning  up  the 
next  parallel  street,  which  brought  us  out  on  the 
square  close  to  the  palace. 

As  we  drove  into  the  courtyard  I  was  surprised  to 
see  that  it  was  filled  with  carriages,  that  the  plumed 
chasseurs  of  ambassadors  and  footmen  in  court  liver- 
ies were  flitting  to  and  fro,  and  that  the  great  flight 
of  steps  leading  to  the  grand  entrance  was  dotted 
thickly  with  officers  and  gendarmes,  exactly  as  though 
an  imperial  birthday  Te  Deum  at  St.  Isaac's  Cathe- 
dral were  in  progress,  and  twenty  or  twenty-five 
thousand  people  must  be  kept  in  order. 

"  Well !  "  I  said  to  myself,  "  this  appears  to  be  a 
very  elegant  sort  of  sketch-club,  with  evening  dress 
and  all  the  society  appurtenances.  What  did  Y&koff 
Petrovitch  mean  by  telling  me  that  a  plain  street 
gown  was  the  proper  thing  to  wear  ?  This  enforced 


96  EXPERIENCES. 

'simplification'     is   rather   trying    to   the   feminine 
nerves  ;  but  I  will  not  beat  a  retreat !  " 

I  paid  and  dismissed  my  izv6%tchik,  —  a  poor, 
shabby  fellow,  such  as  Fate  invariably  allotted  to  me, 
—  walked  in,  gave  my  furs  and  galoshes  to  the  hand- 
some, big  head  Swiss  in  imperial  scarlet  and  gold 
livery,  and  started  past  the  throng  of  servants,  to  the 
grand  staircase,  which  ascended  invitingly  at  the 
other  side  of  the  vast  hall.  Unfortunately,  that  in- 
stinct with  whose  possession  women  are  sometimes 
reproached  prompted  me  to  turn  back,  just  as  I  had 
reached  the  first  step,  and  question  the  Swiss. 

"In  what  room  shall  I  find  the  Ladies'  Artistic 
Circle?" 

"  It  does  not  meet  to-night,  madame,"  he  answered. 
"Her  Imperial  Highness  has  guests." 

"  But  I  thought  the  Circle  met  every  Wednesday 
night  from  November  to  May." 

"  It  does,  usually,  madame ;  to-night  is  an  excep- 
tion. You  will  find  the  ladies  here  next  week." 

"  Then  please  to  give  me  my  slitiba  and  ga- 
loshes, and  call  a  sledge." 

The  Swiss  gave  the  order  fora  sledge  to  one  of  the 
palace  servants  standing  by,  and  put  on  my  galoshes 
and  cloak.  But  the  big  square  was  deserted,  the 
ubiquitous  izvtistcliik  was  absent,  for  once,  it  appeared, 
and  after  waiting  a  few  minutes  at  the  grand  entrance, 
I  repeated  my  request  to  an  officer  of  gendarmes. 
He  touched  his  cap,  said :  "  Slushaiii's "  (I  obey, 
madame),  and  set  in  action  a  series  of  shouts  of 
"IzvdBtchik!  izv6-6-6-6-$tchik!"  It  ended  in  the  dis- 
patch of  a  messenger  to  a  neighboring  street,  and  — 
at  last  —  the  appearance  of  a  sledge,  visibly  shabby  of 
course,  even  in  the  dark,  —  my  luck  had  not  deserted 
me. 


EXPERIENCES.  97 

I  could  have  walked  home,  as  it  was  very  close 
at  hand,  in  much  less  time  than  it  took  to  get  the 
sledge,  be  placed  therein,  and  buttoned  fast  under  the 
robe  by  the  gendarme  officer ;  but  my  heart  had 
quailed  a  little,  I  confess,  when  it  looked  for  a  while 
as  if  I  should  be  compelled  to  do  it  and  pass  that 
array  of  carriages  and  lackeys  afoot.  I  was  glad 
enough  to  be  able  to  spend  double  fare  on  the  man 
(because  I  had  not  bargained  in  advance),  in  the 
support  of  my  little  dignity  and  false  pride. 

As  I  drove  out  of  one  gate,  a  kind  of  quiet  tumult 
arose  at  the  other.  On  comparing  notes,  two  days 
later,  as  to  the  hour,  with  a  friend  who  had  been  at 
the  palace  that  night  (by  invitation,  not  in  my  way), 
I  found  that  the  Emperor  and  Empress  had  driven 
up  to  attend  these  Lenten  Tableaux  Vivants,  in  which 
several  members  of  the  imperial  family  figured,  just 
as  I  had  got  out  of  the  way. 

This  was  one  of  the  very  few  occasions  when  I 
found  any  street  reserved  temporarily  for  the  Em- 
peror, who  usually  drives  like  a  private  citizen.  I  have 
never  been  able  to  understand,  however,  what  good 
such  reservation  does,  if  undertaken  as  a  protective 
measure  (as  hasty  travelers  are  fond  of  asserting), 
when  a  person  can  head  off  the  Emperor,  reach 
the  goal  by  a  parallel  street,  and  then  walk  into  a 
small,  select  imperial  party  unknown,  uninvited,  un- 
hindered, as  I  evidently  could  have  done  and  almost 
did,  woolen  gown,  bonnet,  and  all,  barred  solely  by 
my  own  question  to  the  Swiss  at  the  last  moment. 

That  the  full  significance  of  my  semi-adventure 
may  be  comprehended,  with  all  its  irregularity,  let  me 
explain  that  my  manner  of  arrival  was  as  unsuitable 
—  as  suspicious,  if  you  like  —  as  it  well  could  be.  I 


98  EXPERIENCES. 

had  no  business  to  drive  up  to  a  palace,  in  a  common 
sledge  hired  on  the  street,  on  such  an  occasion.  I  had 
no  business  to  be  riding  alone  in  an  open  sledge  at 
night.  Officers  from  the  regiments  of  the  Guards 
may,  from  economy,  use  such  public  open  sledges  (there 
are  no  covered  sledges  in  town)  to  attend  a  reception 
at  the  Winter  Palace,  or  a  funeral  mass  at  a  church 
where  the  Emperor  and  Empress  &re  present.  I  have 
seen  that  done.  But  they  are  careful  to  alight  at  a 
distance  and  approach  the  august  edifice  on  their  own 
noble,  uniformed  legs.  But  a  woman — without  a 
uniform  to  consecrate  her  daring  — ! 

However,  closed  carriages  do  not  stand  at  random 
on  the  street  in  St.  Petersburg,  any  more  than  they 
do  elsewhere,  and  cannot  often  be  had  either  quickly 
or  easily,  besides  being  expensive. 

Nevertheless,  neither  then  nor  at  any  other  time 
did  I  ever  encounter  the  slightest  disrespect  from 
police,  gendarmes,  servants  (those  severe  and  often 
impertinent  judges  of  one's  attire  and  equipage),  nor 
from  their  masters,  —  not  even  on  this  critical  occa- 
sion when  I  so  patently,  flagrantly  transgressed  all 
the  proprieties,  yet  was  not  interfered  with  by  word 
or  glance,  but  was  permitted  to  discover  my  error 
for  myself,  or  plunge  headlong,  unwarned,  into  the 
Duchess's  party,  regardless  of  my  unsuitable  costume. 

On  the  following  Wednesday,  I  drove  to  the  palace 
'again  in  the  same  style  of  equipage,  and  the  same 
gown,  which  proved  to  be  perfectly  proper,  as  Mr. 
Y.  P.  had  told  me,  and  was  greeted  with  a  courteous 
and  amiable  smile  by  the  head  Swiss,  who  had  the  air 
of  taking  me  under  his  special  protection,  as  he  con- 
ducted me  in  person,  not  by  deputy,  to  the  quarters 
of  the  Circle. 


EXPERIENCES.  99 

I  had  another  illustrative  experience  with  closed 
streets.  In  February  come  the  two  grand  reviews  of 
the  Guards,  stationed  in  Petersburg,  Peterhoff,  and 
Tzarskoe  Sel6,  on  the  Palace  Place.  They  are  fine 
spectacles,  but  only  for  those  who  have  access  to  a 
window  overlooking  the  scene,  as  all  the  streets  lead- 
ing to  the  Place  are  blockaded  by  the  gendarmerie, 
to  obviate  the  disturbance  of  traffic.  On  one  of 
these  occasions,  I  inadvertently  selected  the  route 
which  the  Emperor  was  to  use.  I  was  stopped  by 
mounted  gendarmes.  I  told  them  that  it  was  too  far  to 
walk,  with  my  heavy  furs  and  shoes,  and  they  allowed 
me  to  proceed.  A  block  further  on,  officers  of  higher 
grade  in  the  gendarmerie  rode  up  to  me  and  again  de- 
clared that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  go  on ;  but 
they  yielded,  as  did  still  higher  officers,  at  two  or 
three  advanced  posts.  I  believe  that  it  was  not  in- 
tended that  I  should  walk  along  that  street  either ;  I 
certainly  had  it  all  to  myself.  I  know  now  how  roy- 
alty feels  when  carefully  coddled,  and  prefer  to  have 
my  fellow-creatures  about  me.  I  alighted,  at  last, 
with  the  polite  assistance  of  a  gendarme  officer,  at 
the  very  spot  where  the  Emperor  afterward  alighted 
from  his  sledge  and  mounted  his  horse.  At  that  time 
I  was  living  in  an  extremely  fashionable  quarter  of 
the  city,  where  every  one  was  supposed  to  keep  his 
own  carriage.  The  result  was  that  the  izvtistchiki 
never  expected  custom  from  any  one  except  the  ser- 
vants of  the  wealthy,  and  none  but  the  shabbiest 
sledges  in  town  ever  waited  there  for  engagements. 
Accordingly,  my  turnout  was  very  shabby,  and  the 
gendarmes  could  not  have  been  impressed  with  re- 
spect by  it.  On  the  other  hand,  had  I  used  the  best 
style  of  public  equipage,  the  likdtchi,  the  kind  which 


100  EXPERIENCES. 

consists  of  an  elegant  little  sledge,  a  fine  horse,  and 
a  spruce,  well-fed,  well-dressed  driver,  it  is  probable 
that  they  would  not  have  let  me  pass  at  all.  Ladies 
are  not  permitted,  by  etiquette,  to  patronize  these 
likdtchi)  alone,  and  no  man  will  take  his  wife  or  a 
woman  whom  he  respects  to  drive  in  one.  Had  I 
foreseen  that  there  would  be  any  occasion  for  inspir- 
ing respect  by  my  equipage,  I  would  have  gone  to  the 
trouble  and  expense  of  hiring  a  closed  carriage,  a  thing 
which  I  did  as  rarely  as  possible,  because  nothing 
could  be  seen  through  the  frozen  window,  because 
they  seemed  much  colder  than  the  open  sledges,  and 
had  no  advantage  except  style,  and  that  of  protect- 
ing one  from  the  wind,  which  I  did  not  mind. 


VI. 

A  RUSSIAN   SUMMER; RESORT. .    ,    .,    \\]  •  . 

THE  spring  was  late  and  cold.  I  wore  ray  fur- 
lined  cloak  (shtiba)  and  wrapped  up  my  ears,  by 
Russian  advice  as  well  as  by  inclination,  until  late  in 
May.  But  we  were  told  that  the  summer  heat  would 
catch  us  suddenly,  and  that  St.  Petersburg  would  be- 
come malodorous  and  unhealthy.  It  was  necessary, 
owing  to  circumstances,  to  find  a  healthy  residence 
for  the  summer,  which  should  not  be  too  far  removed 
from  the  capital.  With  a  few  exceptions,  all  the  en- 
virons of  St.  Petersburg  are  damp.  Unless  one  goes 
as  far  as  Gatschina,  or  into  the  part  of  Finland  adja- 
cent to  the  city,  Tzarskoe  Selo  presents  the  only  dry 
locality.  In  the  Finnish  summer  colonies,  one  must, 
perforce,  keep  house,  for  lack  of  hotels.  In  Tzdrs- 
koe,  as  in  Peterhoff,  villa  life  is  the  only  variety  rec- 
ognized by  polite  society  ;•  but  there  we  had  —  or 
seemed  to  have  —  the  choice  between  that  and  hotels. 
We  decided  in  favor  of  Tzarskoe,  as  it  is  called  in 
familiar  conversation.  As  one  approaches  the  impe- 
rial village,  it  rises  like  a  green  oasis  from  the  plain. 
It  is  hedged  in,  like  a  true  Russian  village,  but  with 
trees  and  bushes  well  trained  instead  of  with  a  wat- 
tled fence. 

During  the  reign  of  Alexander  II.,  this  inland  vil- 
lage was  the  favorite  Court  resort;  not  Peterhoff, 
on  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  as  at  present.  It  is  situated 


102  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

sixteen  miles  from  St.  Petersburg,  on  the  line  of  the 
first  railway  built  in  Russia,  which  to  this  day  ex- 
tends only  a  couple  of  miles  beyond,  —  for  lack  of  the 
necessity  of  farther  extension,  it  is  just  to  add.  It 
stands  on  Ian  $„  which;  is  not  perceptibly  higher  than 
St.  P<etersbarg,:aiic(  ;it  took  a  great  deal  of  demon- 
stration -  before;  aa  Empress  of  the  last  century  could 
be  made  t€f  believe  that  it  was,  in  reality,  on  a  level 
with  the  top  of  the  lofty  Admiralty  spire,  and  that 
she  must  continue  her  tiresome  trips  to  and  fro  in  her 
coach,  in  the  impossibility  of  constructing  a  canal 
which  would  enable  her  to  sail  in  comfort.  Tzars- 
koe  Selo,  "  Imperial  Village: "  well  as  the  name  fits 
the  place,  it  is  thought  to  have  been  corrupted  from 
saari,  the  Finnish  word  for  "  farm,"  as  a  farm  occu- 
pied the  site  when  Peter  the  Great  pitched  upon  it 
for  one  of  his  numerous  summer  resorts.  He  first 
enlarged  the  farmhouse,  then  built  one  of  his  simple 
wooden  palaces,  and  a  greenhouse  for  Katherine  I. 
Eventually  he  erected  a  small  part  of  the  present  Old 
Palace.  It  was  at  the  dedication  of  the  church  here, 
celebrated  in  floods  of  liquor  (after  a  fashion  not 
unfamiliar  in  the  annals  of  New  England  in  earlier 
days),  that  Peter  I.  contracted  the  illness  which, 
aggravated  by  a  similar  drinking-bout  elsewhere  im- 
mediately afterward,  and  a  cold  caused  by  a  wetting 
while  he  was  engaged  in  rescuing  some  people  from 
drowning,  carried  him  to  his  grave  very  promptly. 
His  successors  enlarged  and  beautified  the  place, 
which  first  became  famous  during  the  reign  of  Kath- 
erine II.  At  the  present  day,  its  broad  macadamized 
streets  are  lighted  by  electricity  ;  its  G-ostinny  Dvor 
(bazaar)  is  like  that  of  a  provincial  city ;  many  of 
its  sidewalks,  after  the  same  provincial  pattern,  have 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER   RESORT.  103 

made  people  prefer  the  middle  of  the  street  for  their 
promenades.  Naturally,  only  the  lower  classes  were 
expected  to  walk  when  the  Court  resided  there. 

Before  making  acquaintance  with  the  famous  pal- 
aces and  parks,  we  undertook  to  settle  ourselves  for 
the  time  being,  at  least.  It  appeared  that  "fur- 
nished "  villas  are  so  called  in  Tz&rskoe,  as  elsewhere, 
because  they  require  to  be  almost  completely  furnished 
by  the  occupant  on  a  foundation  of  bare  bones  of 
furniture,  consisting  of  a  few  bedsteads  and  tables. 
This  was  not  convenient  for  travelers ;  neither  did 
we  wish  to  commit  ourselves  for  the  whole  season  to 
the  cares  of  housekeeping,  lest  a  change  of  air  should 
be  ordered  suddenly ;  so  we  determined  to  try  to  live 
in  another  way. 

Boarding-houses  are  as  scarce  here  as  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, the  whole  town  boasting  but  one,  —  advertised 
as  a  wonderful  rarity, — which  was  very  badly  situ- 
ated. There  were  plenty  of  traktiri,  or  low-class 
eating-houses,  some  of  which  had  "numbers  for  ar- 
rivers  "  —  that  is  to  say,  rooms  for  guests  —  added  to 
their  gaudy  signs.  These  were  not  to  be  thought  of. 
But  we  had  been  told  of  an  establishment  which  re- 
joiced in  the  proud  title  of  gostinnitza,  "  hotel,"  in  city 
fashion.  It  looked  fairly  good,  and  there  we  took  up 
our  abode,  after  due  and  inevitable  chaffering.  This 
hotel  was  kept,  over  shops,  on  the  first  and  part  of 
the  second  floor  of  a  building  which  had  originally 
been  destined  for  apartments.  Its  only  recommenda- 
tion was  that  it  was  situated  near  a  very  desirable 
gate  into  the  Imperial  Park.  Our  experience  there 
was  sufficient  to  slake  all  curiosity  as  to  Russian 
summer  resort  hotels,  or  country  hotels  in  provin- 
cial towns,  since  that  was  its  character;  though  it 


104  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

had,  besides,  some  hindrances  which  were  peculiar,  I 
hope,  to  itself.  The  usual  clean,  large  dining-room, 
with  the  polished  floor,  table  decorated  with  plants, 
and  lace  curtains,  was  irresistibly  attractive,  espe- 
cially to  wedding  parties  of  shopkeepers,  who  danced 
twelve  hours  at  a  stretch,  and  to  breakfast  parties 
after  funerals,  whose  guests  made  rather  more  uproar 
on  afternoons  than  did  those  of  the  wedding  balls  in 
the  evening,  as  they  sang  the  customary  doleful 
chants,  and  then  warmed  up  to  the  occasion  with  bot- 
tled consolation.  The  establishment  being  short- 
handed  for  waiters,  these  entertainments  interfered 
seriously  with  our  meals,  which  we  took  in  private ; 
and  we  were  often  forced  to  go  hungry  until  long 
after  the  hour,  because  there  was  so  much  to  eat  in 
the  house ! 

Our  first  experience  of  the  place  was  characteristic. 
The  waiter,  who  was  also  '•  boots,"  chambermaid, 
and  clerk,  on  occasion,  distributed  two  sheets,  two 
pillows,  one  blanket,  and  one  "  cold  "  (cotton)  cov- 
erlet between  the  two  beds,  and  considered  that 
ample,  as  no  doubt  it  was  according  to  some  lights 
and  according  to  the  almanac,  though  the  weather 
resembled  November  just  then,  and  I  saw  snow  a 
few  days  later.  Having  succeeded  in  getting  this 
rectified,  after  some  discussion,  I  asked  for  towels. 

u  There  is  one,"  answered  Mikhe'i  (Micah),  with 
his  most  fascinating  smile. 

The  towel  was  very  small,  and  was  intended  to 
serve  for  two  persons  !  Eventually  it  did  not ;  and 
we  earned  the  name  of  being  altogether  too  fastidi- 
ous. The  washstand  had  a  tank  of  water  attached 
to  the  top,  which  we  pumped  into  the  basin  with 
a  foot-treadle,  after  we  became  skillful,  holding  our 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  105 

hands  under  the  stream  the  while.  The  basin  had 
no  stopper.  "  Running  water  is  cleaner  to  wash  in," 
was  the  serious  explanation.  Some  other  barba- 
rian who  had  used  that  washstand  before  us  must 
also  have  differed  from  that  commonly  accepted  Rus- 
sian opinion :  when  we  plugged  up  the  hole  with 
a  cork,  and  it  disappeared,  and  we  fished  it  out  of 
the  still  clogged  pipe,  we  found  that  six  others  had 
preceded  it.  It  took  a  champagne  cork  and  a  cord 
to  conquer  the  orifice. 

Among  our  vulgar  experiences  at  this  place  were 
—  fleas.  I  remonstrated  with  MikheM,  our  typical 
waiter  from  the  government  of  Yaroslavl,  which  fur- 
nishes restaurant  garpons  in  hordes  as  a  regular  in- 
dustry. Mikhe'i  replied  airily  :  — 

"  Nitchevd  !  It  is  nothing  !  You  will  soon  learn 
to  like  them  so  much  that  you  cannot  do  without 
them." 

I  take  the  liberty  of  doubting  whether  even  Rus- 
sians ever  reach  that  last  state  of  mind,  in  a  lifetime 
of  endurance.  Two  rooms  beyond  us,  in  the  same 
corridor,  lodged  a  tall,  thin,  gray-haired  Russian  mer- 
chant, who  was  nearly  a  typical  Yankee  in  appear- 
ance. Every  morning,  at  four  o'clock,  when  the  fleas 
were  at  their  worst  and  roused  us  regularly  (the 
"  close  season  "  for  mortals,  in  Russia,  is  between  five 
and  six  A.  M.),  we  heard  this  man  emerge  from  his 
room,  and  shake,  separately  and  violently,  the  four 
pieces  of  his  bedclothing  into  the  corridor  ;  not  out 
of  the  window,  as  he  should  have  done.  So  much 
for  the  modern  native  taste.  It  is  recorded  that 
the  beauties  of  the  last  century,  in  St.  Petersburg, 
always  wore  on  their  bosoms  silver  "flea-catchers" 
attached  to  a  ribbon.  These  traps  consisted  of  small 


106  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

tubes  pierced  with  a  great  number  of  tiny  boles, 
closed  at  the  bottom,  open  at  the  top,  and  each  con- 
taining a  slender  shaft  smeared  with  honey  or  some 
other  sticky  substance.  So  much  for  the  ancient 
native  taste. 

Again,  we  had  a  disagreement  with  Mikhe'i  on  the 
subject  of  the  roast  beef.  More  than  once  it  was 
brought  in  having  a  peculiar  blackish-crimson  hue 
and  stringy  grain,  with  a  sweetish  flavor,  and  an 
odor  which  was  singular  but  not  tainted,  and  which 
required  imperatively  that  either  we  or  it  should 
vacate  the  room  instantly.  Mikhe'i  stuck  firmly  to 
his  assertion  that  it  was  a  prime  cut  from  a  first- 
class  ox.  We  discovered  the  truth  later  on,  in  Mos- 
cow, when  we  entered  a  Tatar  horse-butcher's  shop 
—  ornamented  with  the  picture  of  a  horse,  as  the 
law  requires  —  out  of  curiosity,  to  inquire  prices. 
We  recognized  the  smell  and  other  characteristics 
of  our  Tzarskoe  Sel6  "  roast  ox  "  at  a  glance  and  a 
sniff,  and  remained  only  long  enough  to  learn  that 
the  best  cuts  cost  two  and  a  half  cents  a  pound. 
Afterward  we  went  a  block  about  to  avoid  passing 
that  shop.  The  explanation  of  the  affair  was  sim- 
ple enough.  In  our  hotel  there  was  a  traktir,  run 
by  our  landlord,  tucked  away  in  a  rear  corner  of  the 
ground  floor,  and  opening  on  what  Thackeray  would 
have  called  a  "  tight  but  elegant "  little  garden,  for 
summer  use.  It  was  thronged  from  morning  till 
night  with  Tatar  old-clothes  men  and  soldiers  from 
the  garrison,  for  whom  it  was  the  rendezvous.  The 
horse  beef  had  been  provided  for  the  Tatars,  who 
considered  it  a  special  dainty,  and  had  been  palmed 
off  upon  us  because  it  was  cheap. 

I  may  dismiss  the  subject  of   the  genial  Mikhe'i 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  107 

here,  with  the  remark  that  we  met  him  the  follow- 
ing summer  at  the  Samson  Inn,  in  Peterhoff,  where 
he  served  our  breakfast  with  an  affectionate  solici- 
tude which  somewhat  alarmed  us  for  his  sobriety. 
He  was  very  much  injured  in  appearance  by  long 
Lair  thrown  back  in  artistic  fashion,  and  a  livid  gash 
which  scored  one  side  of  his  face  down  to  his  still 
unbrushed  teeth,  and  nearly  to  his  unwashed  shirt, 
narrowly  missing  one  eye,  and  suggested  possibilities 
of  fight  in  him  which,  luckily  for  our  peace  of  mind, 
we  had  not  suspected  the  previous  season. 

Our  chambermaid  at  first,  at  the  Tzarskoe  hos- 
telry, was  a  lad  fourteen  years  of  age,  who  dusted 
in  the  most  wonderfully  conscientious  way  without 
being  asked,  like  a  veteran  trained  housekeeper. 
We  supposed  that  male  chambermaids  were  the 
fashion,  judging  from  the  offices  which  we  had  seen 
our  St.  Petersburg  hotel  "  boots  "  perform,  and  we 
said  nothing.  A  Russian  friend  who  came  to  call  on 
us,  however,  was  shocked,  and,  without  our  know- 
ledge, gave  the  landlord  a  lecture  on  the  subject,  the 
first  intimation  of  which  was  conveyed  to  us  by  the 
appearance  of  a  maid  who  had  been  engaged  "  ex- 
pressly for  the  service  of  our  high  nobilities  ;  "  price, 
five  rubles  a  month  (two  dollars  and  a  half;  she 
chanced  to  live  in  the  attic  lodgings),  which  they 
did  not  pay  her,  and  which  we  gladly  gave  her.  Her 
conversation  alone  was  worth  three  times  the  money. 
Our  "  boots  "  in  St.  Petersburg  got  but  four  rubles 
a  month,  out  of  which  he  was  obliged  to  clothe 
himself,  and  furnish  the  brushes,  wax,  and  blacking 
for  the  boots  ;  and  he  had  not  had  a  single  day's  holi- 
day in  four  years,  when  we  made  his  acquaintance. 
I  won  his  eternal  devotion  by  "placing  a  candle" 


108  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

vicariously  to  the  Saviour  for  him  on  Christmas  Day, 
and  added  one  for  myself,  to  harmonize  with  the 
brotherly  spirit  of  the  season. 

Andrei,  the  boy,  never  wholly  recovered  from  the 
grief  and  resentment  caused  by  being  thus  supplanted, 
and  the  imputation  cast  upon  his  powers  of  caring 
for  us.  He  got  even  with  us  on  at  least  two  oc- 
casions, for  the  offense  of  which  we  were  innocent. 
Once  he  told  a  fashionable  visitor  of  ours  that  we 
dined  daily  in  the  traktir,  with  the  Tatar  clothes 
peddlers  and  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison,  with  the 
deliberate  intention  of  shocking  her.  I  suppose  it 
soothed  his  feelings  for  having  to  serve  our  food  in 
our  own  room.  Again,  being  ordered  to  "  place  the 
samovar"  he  withdrew  to  his  chamber,  the  former 
kitchen  of  the  apartment,  and  went  to  sleep  on  the 
cold  range,  which  was  his  bed,  where  he  was  discov- 
ered after  we  had  starved  patiently  for  an  hour  and 
a  half. 

AndreTs  supplanter  was  named  Katiusha,  but  her 
angular  charms  corresponded  so  precisely  with  those 
of  the  character  in  "  The  Mikado  "  that  we  referred 
to  her  habitually  as  Katisha.  She  had  been  a  serf, 
a  member  of  the  serf  aristocracy,  which  consisted  of 
the  house  servants,  and  had  served  always  as  maid 
or  nurse.  She  was  now  struggling  on  as  a  seam- 
stress. Her  sewing  was  wonderfully  bad,  and  she 
found  great  difficulty  in  bringing  up  her  two  chil- 
dren, who  demanded  fashionable  "  European  "  cloth- 
ing, and  in  eking  out  the  starvation  wages  of  her 
husband,  a  superannuated  restaurant  waiter,  also  a 
former  serf,  and  belonging,  like  herself,  to  the  class 
which  received  personal  liberty,  but  no  land,  at  the 
emancipation.  Her  view  of  the  emancipation  was 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  109 

not  entirely  favorable.  In  fact,  all  the  ex-serfs  with 
whom  I  talked  retained  a  soft  spot  in  their  hearts  for 
the  comforts  and  irresponsibility  of  the  good  old  days 
of  serfdom. 

Katiusha  could  neither  read  nor  write,  but  her 
naturally  acute  powers  of  observation,  unconsciously 
trained  by  constant  contact  with  her  former  owners, 
were  of  very  creditable  quality.  She  possessed  a 
genuine  talent  for  expressing  herself  neatly.  For 
example,  in  describing  a  concert  to  which  she  had 
been  taken,  she  praised  the  soprano  singer's  voice 
with  much  discrimination,  winding  up  with,  "  It  was 
—  how  shall  I  say  it  ?  —  round  —  as  round  —  as 
round  as  —  a  cartwheel !  " 

Her  great  delight  consisted  in  being  sent  by  me  to 
purchase  eggs  and  fruit  at  the  market,  or  in  accom- 
panying me  to  carry  them  home,  when  I  went  myself 
to  enjoy  the  scene  and  her  methods.  In  her  I  was 
able  to  study  Russian  bargaining  tactics  in  their 
finest  flower.  She  would  haggle  for  half  an  hour 
over  a  quarter  of  a  cent  on  very  small  purchases,  and 
then  would  carry  whatever  she  bought  into  one  of 
the  neighboring  shops  to  be  reweighed.  To  my  sur- 
prise, the  good-natured  venders  seemed  never  to  take 
offense  at  this  significant  act ;  and  she  never  discov- 
ered any  dishonesty.  When  wearied  out  by  this 
sort  of  thing,  I  took  charge  of  the  proceedings,  that 
I  might  escape  from  her  agonized  groans  and  gri- 
maces at  my  extravagance.  After  choking  down  her 
emotion  in  gulps  all  the  way  home,  she  would  at  last 
clasp  her  hands,  and  moan  in  a  wheedling  voice  :  — 

"  Please,  larynya^  how  much  did  you  pay  that 
robber?" 

1  Mistress. 


110  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

"  Two  kopeks 1  apiece  for  the  eggs.  They  are 
fine,  large,  and  fresh,  as  you  see.  Twenty  kopeks  a 
pound  for  the  strawberries,  also  of  the  first  quality." 

Then  would  follow  a  scene  which  never  varied, 
even  if  my  indiscretion  had  been  confined  to  rasp- 
berries at  five  cents  a  pound,  or  currants  at  a  cent 
less.  She  would  wring  her  hands,  long  and  fleshless 
as  fan  handles,  and,  her  great  green  eyes  phospho- 
rescent with  distress  above  her  hollow  cheeks  and 
projecting  bones,  she  would  cry  :  — 

"  Oh,  barynya,  they  have  cheated  you,  cheated  you 
shamefully  !  You  must  let  me  protect  you." 

"  Come,  don't  you  think  it  is  worth  a  few  kopeks 
to  be  called  *  a  pearl,'  4  a  diamond,'  '  an  emerald  '  ?  " 

"  Is  that  all  they  called  you  ?  "  she  inquired,  with 
a  disdainful  sniff. 

"  No ;  they  said  that  I  was  '  a  real  general-ess.' 
They  knew  their  business,  you  see.  And  they  said 
4  madame  '  instead  of  '  suddrynyaS  2  Was  there  any 
other  title  which  they  could  have  bestowed  on  me  for 
the  money  ?  " 

She  confessed,  with  a  pitying  sigh,  that  there  was 
not,  but  returned  to  her  plaint  over  the  sinfully 
wasted  kopeks.  Once  I  offered  her  some  "  tea- 
money  "  in  the  shape  of  a  basket  of  raspberries, 
which  she  wished  to  preserve  and  drink  in  her  tea, 
with  the  privilege  of  purchasing  them  herself.  As 
an  experiment  to  determine  whether  bargaining  is 
the  outcome  of  thrift  and  economy  alone,  or  a  dis- 
tinct pleasure  in  itself,  it  was  a  success.  I  followed 

1  About  one  cent. 

2  Suddrynya  is  the  genuine  Russian  word  for  "madam,"  but,  like 
spasibo,  "  thank  you,"  it  is    used  only  by  the  lower  classes.     Many 
merchants  who  know  no  French  except  madame  use  it  as  a  delicate 
compliment  to  the  patron's  social  position. 


A  RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  Ill 

her  from  vender  to  vender,  and  waited  with  exem- 
plary patience  while  she  scrutinized  their  wares  and 
beat  down  prices  with  feverish  eagerness,  despite  the 
fact  that  she  was  not  to  pay  the  bill.  I  put  an  end 
to  the  matter  when  she  tried  to  persuade  a  pretty 
peasant  girl,  who  had  walked  eight  miles,  to  accept 
less  than  four  cents  a  pound  for  superb  berries.  I 
think  it  really  spoiled  my  gift  to  her  that  I  insisted 
on  making  the  girl  happy  with  five  cents  a  pound. 
After  that  I  was  not  surprised  to  find  Russian  mer- 
chants catering  to  the  taste  of  their  customers  by 
refusing  to  adopt  the  one-price  system. 

It  was  vulgar  to  go  to  market,  of  course.  Even 
the  great  mastiff  who  acted  as  yard  dog  at  the  bazaar 
made  me  aware  of  that  fact.  He  always  greeted  me 
politely,  like  a  host,  when  he  met  me  in  the 'court  at 
market  hours.  But  nothing  could  induce  him  even 
to  look  at  me  when  he  met  me  outside.  I  tried  to 
explain  to  him  that  my  motives  were  scientific,  not 
economical,  and  I  introduced  Katiusha  to  him  as  the 
family  bargainer  and  scapegoat  for  his  scorn.  He  de- 
clined to  relent.  After  that  I  understood  that  there 
was  nothing  for  it  but  to  shoulder  the  responsibility 
myself,  and  I  never  attempted  to  palliate  my  unpar- 
donable conduct  in  the  eyes  of  the  servants  of  my 
friends  whom  I  occasionally  encountered  there. 

The  market  was  held  in  the  inner  courtyard  of  the 
Gostinny  Dvor,  near  the  chapel,  which  always  occu- 
pies a  conspicuous  position  in  such  places.  While 
the  shops  under  the  arcade,  facing  on  the  street, 
sold  everything,  from  "  gallantry  wares  "  (dry  goods 
and  small  wares)  to  nails,  the  inner  booths  were  all 
devoted  to  edibles.  On  the  rubble  pavement  of  the 
court  squatted  peasants  from  the  villages  for  many 


112  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

versts  round  about,  both  Russian  and  Finnish,  hedged 
in  by  their  wares,  vegetables,  flowers,  fruit,  and  live 
poultry.  The  Russians  exhibited  no  beautiful  cos- 
tumes ;  their  proximity  to  the  capital  had  done  away 
with  all  that.  At  first  I  was  inexperienced,  and 
went  unprovided  with  receptacles  for  my  marketing. 
The  market  women  looked  up  in  surprise. 

"What,  have  you  no  kerchief?"  they  asked,  as 
though  I  were  a  peasant  or  petty  merchant's  wife, 
and  could  remove  the  typical  piece  of  gayly  colored 
cloth  from  my  head  or  neck.  When  I  objected  to 
transporting  eggs  and  berries  in  my  only  resource, 
my  handkerchief,  they  reluctantly  produced  scraps 
of  dirty  newspaper,  or  of  ledgers  scrawled  over  with 
queer  accounts.  I  soon  grew  wise,  and  hoarded  up 
the  splin-t  strawberry  baskets  provided  by  the  male 
venders,  which  are  put  to  multifarious  uses  in 
Russia. 

After  being  asked  for  a  kerchief  in  the  markets, 
and  a  sheet  when  I  went  to  get  my  fur  cloak  from 
its  summer  storage  at  a  fashionable  city  shop,  and 
after  making  divers  notes  on  journeys,  I  was  obliged 
to  conclude  that  the  ancient  merchant  fashion  in 
Russia  had  been  to  seize  the  nearest  fabric  at  hand, 
—  the  sheet  from  the  bed,  the  cloth  from  the  table,  — 
and  use  it  as  a  traveling  trunk. 

The  Finns  at  the  market  were  not  to  be  mistaken 
for  Russians.  Their  features  were  wooden ;  their 
expression  was  far  less  intelligent  than  that  of  the 
Russians.  The  women  were  addicted  to  wonderful 
patterns  in  aprons  and  silver  ornaments,  and  wore, 
under  a  white  head  kerchief,  a  stiff  glazed  white  cir- 
clet which  seemed  to  wear  away  their  blond  hair. 
These  women  arrived  regularly  every  morning,  before 


A  RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  113 

five  o'clock,  at  the  shops  of  the  baker  and  the  grocer 
opposite  our  windows.  The  shops  opened  at  that 
hour,  after  having  kept  open  until  eleven  o'clock  at 
night,  or  later.  After  refreshing  themselves  with 
a  roll  and  a  bunch  of  young  onions,  of  which  the 
green  tops  appeared  to  be  the  most  relished,  the 
women  made  their  town  toilet  by  lowering  the  very 
much  reefed  skirt  of  their  single  garment,  drawing  on 
footless  stockings,  and  donning  shoes.  At  ten  o'clock, 
or  even  earlier,  they  came  back  to  fill  the  sacks  of 
coarse  white  linen,  borne  over  their  shoulders,  with 
necessaries  for  their  households,  purchased  with  the 
proceeds  of  their  sales,  and  to  reverse  their  toilet  op- 
erations, preparatory  to  the  long  tramp  homeward.  I 
sometimes  caught  them  buying  articles  which  seemed 
extravagant  luxuries,  all  things  considered,  such  as 
raisins.  One  of  their  specialties  was  the  sale  of  lilies 
of  the  valley,  which  grow  wild  in  the  Russian  forests. 
Their  peculiar  little  trot-trot,  and  the  indescribable 
semi-tones  and  quarter-tones  in  which  they  cried, 
"  Ldnd-dy-y-y-shee  !  "  were  unmistakably  Finnish  at 
any  distance. 

The  scene  at  the  market  was  always  entertaining. 
Tzarskoe  is  surrounded  by  market  gardens,  where 
vegetables  and  fruits  are  raised  in  highly  manured 
and  excessively  hilled-up  beds.  It  sends  tons  of  its 
products  to  the  capital  as  well  as  to  the  local  market. 
Everything  was  cheap  and  delicious.  Eggs  were 
dear  when  they  reached  a  cent  and  a  half  apiece. 
Strawberries,  huge  and  luscious,  were  dear  at  ten 
cents  a  pound,  since  in  warm  seasons  they  cost  but 
five.  Another  berry,  sister  to  the  strawberry,  but 
differing  from  it  utterly  in  taste,  was  the  klubnika, 
of  which  there  were  two  varieties,  the  white  and  the 


114  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

bluish-red,  both  delicious  in  their  peculiar  flavor, 
but  less  decorative  in  size  and  aspect  than  the  straw- 
berry. 

The  native  cherries,  small  and  sour,  make  excel- 
lent preserves,  with  a  spicy  flavor,  which  are  much 
liked  by  Russians  in  their  tea.  The  only  objection 
to  this  use  of  them  is  that  both  tea  and  cherries  are 
spoiled.  Raspberries,  plums,  gooseberries,  and  cur- 
rants were  plentiful  and  cheap.  A  vegetable  deli- 
cacy of  high  order,  according  to  Katitisha,  who  intro- 
duced it  to  my  notice,  was  a  sort  of  radish  with  an 
extremely  fine,  hard  grain,  and  biting  qualities  much 
developed,  which  attains  enormous  size,  and  is  eaten 
in  thin  slices,  salted  and  buttered.  I  presented  the 
solitary  specimen  which  I  bought,  a  ninepin  in  pro- 
portions, to  the  grateful  Katitisha.  It  was  beyond 
my  appreciation. 

Pears  do  not  thrive  so  far  north,  but  in  good  years 
apples  of  fine  sorts  are  raised,  to  a  certain  extent, 
in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Petersburg.  Really  good  speci- 
mens, however,  come  from  Poland,  the  lower  Volga, 
Little  Russia,  and  other  distant  points,  which  ren- 
ders them  always  rather  dear.  We  saw  few  in  our 
village  that  were  worth  buying,  as  the  season  was 
phenomenally  cold,  and  a  month  or  three  weeks  late, 
so  that  we  got  our  strawberries  in  August,  and  our 
linden  blossoms  in  September.  Apples,  plums,  grapes, 
and  honey  are  not  eaten — in  theory  —  until  after 
they  have  been  blessed  at  the  feast  of  the  Transfig- 
uration, on  August  18  (N.  S.),  —  a  very  good  scheme 
for  giving  them  time  to  ripen  fully  for  health.  Be- 
fore that  day,  however,  hucksters  bearing  trays  of 
honey  on  their  heads  are  eagerly  welcomed,  and  the 
peasant's  special  dainty  —  fresh  cucumbers  thickly 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  115 

coated  with  honey —  is  indulged  in  unblessed.  Honey 
is  not  so  plentiful  that  one  can  afford  to  fling  away 
a  premature  chance  ! 

When  the  mushroom  season  came  in,  the  market 
assumed  an  aspect  of  half-subdued  brilliancy  with 
the  many  sombre  and  high-colored  varieties  of  that 
fungus.  The  poorer  people  indulge  in  numerous 
kinds  which  the  rich  do  not  eat,  and  they  furnish 
precious  sustenance  during  fasts,  when  so  many  viands 
are  forbidden  by  the  Russian  Church  and  by  pov- 
erty. One  of  the  really  odd  sights,  during  the  fast 
of  Saints  Peter  and  Paul  (the  first  half  of  July),  was 
that  of  people  walking  along  the  streets  with  bunches 
of  pea-vines,  from  which  they  were  plucking  the  peas, 
and  eating  them,  pods  and  all,  quite  raw.  It  seemed 
a  very  summary  and  wasteful  way  of  gathering  them. 
This  fashion  of  eating  vegetables  raw  was  imported, 
along  with  the  liturgy,  from  the  hot  lands  where  the 
Eastern  Church  first  flourished,  and  where  raw  food 
was  suitable.  These  traditions,  and  probably  also 
the  economy  of  fuel,  cause  it  to  be  still  persisted  in, 
in  a  climate  to  which  it  is  wholly  unsuited.  Near 
Tzarskoe  I  found  one  variety  of  pea  growing  to  the 
altitude  of  nearly  seven  feet,  and  producing  pods 
seven  inches  long  and  three  wide.  The  stalks  of  the 
double  poppies  in  the  same  garden  were  six  and  seven 
feet  high,  and  the  flowers  were  the  size  of  peonies, 
while  the  pods  of  the  single  poppies  were  nine  inches 
in  circumference. 

One  of  the  great  festivals  of  the  Russian  Church 
is  Whitsunday,  the  seventh  Sunday  after  Easter  ;  but 
it  is  called  Trinity  Sunday,  and  the  next  day  is 
"  the  Day  of  Spirits,"  or  Pentecost.  On  this  Pen- 
tecost Day  a  curious  sight  was  formerly  to  be  seen  in 


116  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER   RESORT. 

St.  Petersburg.  Mothers  belonging  to  the  merchant 
class  arrayed  their  marriageable  daughters  in  their 
best  attire ;  hung  about  their  necks  not  only  all  the 
jewels  which  formed  a  part  of  their  dowries,  but 
also,  it  is  said,  the  silver  ladles,  forks,  and  spoons ; 
and  took  them  to  the  Summer  Garden,  to  be  in- 
spected and  proposed  for  by  the  young  men. 

But  the  place  where  this  spectacle  can  be  seen  in 
the  most  charming  way  is  Tzarskoe  Selo.  We  were 
favored  with  superb  weather  on  both  the  festal  days. 
On  Sunday  morning  every  one  went  to  church,  as 
usual.  The  small  church  behind  the  Lyceum,  where 
Pushkin  was  educated,  with  its  un-Russian  spire, 
ranks  as  a  Court  church  ;  that  in  the  Old  Palace 
across  the  way  being  opened  only  on  special  occa- 
sions, now  that  the  Court  is  not  in  residence.  Out- 
side, the  choir  sat  under  the  golden  rain  of  acacia 
blossoms  and  the  hedge  of  fragrant  lilacs  until  the 
last  moment,  the  sunshine  throwing  into  relief  their 
gold-laced  black  cloth  vestments  and  crimson  belts. 
They  were  singers  from  one  of  the  regiments  sta- 
tioned in  town,  and  crimson  was  the  regimental 
color.  The  church  is  accessible  to  all  classes,  and  it 
was  crowded.  As  at  Easter,  every  one  was  clad  in 
white  or  light  colors,  even  those  who  were  in  mourn- 
ing having  donned  the  bluish-gray  which  serves  them 
for  festive  garb.  In  place  of  the  Easter  candle,  each 
held  a  bouquet  of  flowers.  In  the  corners  of  the 
church  stood  young  birch-trees,  with  their  satin  bark 
and  feathery  foliage,  and  boughs  of  the  same  decked 
the  walls.  There  is  a  law  now  which  forbids  this 
annual  destruction  of  young  trees  at  Pentecost,  but 
the  practice  continues,  and  the  tradition  is  that  one 
must  shed  as  many  tears  for  his  sins  as  there  are 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  117 

dewdrops  on  the  birch  bough  which  he  carries,  if  lie 
has  no  flowers.  Peasant  women  in  clean  cotton 
gowns  elbowed  members  of  the  Court  in  silks ;  fat 
merchants,  with  well-greased,  odorous  hair  and  boots, 
in  hot,  long-skirted  blue  cloth  coats,  stood  side  by 
side  with  shabby  invalid  soldiers  or  smartly  uni- 
formed officers.  Tiny  peasant  children  seated  them- 
selves on  the  floor  when  their  little  legs  refused  fur- 
ther service,  and  imitated  diligently  all  the  low 
reverences  and  signs  of  the  cross  made  by  their 
parents.  Those  of  larger  growth  stood  with  the  pre- 
ternatural repose  and  dignity  of  the  adult  Russian 
peasant,  and  followed  the  liturgy  independently. 
One  little  girl  of  seven,  self-possessed  and  serenely 
unconscious,  slipped  through  the  crowd  to  the  large 
image  of  the  Virgin  near  the  altar,  grasped  the 
breast-high  guard-rail,  and  kissed  the  holy  picture 
in  the  middle  of  her  agile  vault.  When  some  mem- 
bers of  the  imperial  family  arrived,  the  crowd  pressed 
together  still  more  closely,  to  make  a  narrow  pas- 
gage  to  the  small  space  reserved  for  them  opposite 
the  choir.  After  the  ever  beautiful  liturgy,  finely 
expressed  special  prayers  were  offered,  during  which 
the  priest  also  carried  flowers. 

Another  church  service  on  the  following  day  —  a 
day  when  public  offices  are  closed  and  business  ceases 
—  completed  the  religious  duties  of  the  festival.  In 
the  afternoon,  the  whole  town  began  to  flock  to  the 
Imperial  Park  surrounding  the  Old  Palace,  —  people 
of  the  upper  circles  included,  —  the  latter  from 
motives  of  curiosity,  of  course.  Three  bands  of  the 
Guards  furnished  the  music.  On  the  great  terrace, 
shaded  by  oak-trees  hardly  beyond  the  bronze-pink 
stage  of  their  leafage,  played  the  hussars.  Near  the 


118  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

breakfast  gallery,  with  its  bronze  statues  of  Hercules 
and  Flora,  which  the  common  people  call  "  Adam  and 
Eve "  (the  Ariadne  on  Naxos,  in  a  neighboring 
grotto,  is  popularly  believed  to  be  "  a  girl  of  seven 
years,  who  was  bitten  by  a  snake  while  roaming  the 
Russian  primeval  forest,  and  died  "),  were  the  cuiras- 
siers. The  btryelki  (sharpshooters)  were  stationed 
near  the  lake,  the  central  point  for  meetings  and 
promenades  during  the  lovely  "  white  nights  ;  "  where 
boats  of  every  sort,  from  a  sail-boat  or  a  Chinese 
sampan  to  an  Astrakhan  fishing-boat  or  a  snowshoe 
skiff,  are  furnished  gratis  all  summer,  with  a  sailor  of 
the  Guard  to  row  them,  if  desired.  Round  and  round 
and  round,  unweariedly,  paced  the  girls.  They  were 
bareheaded  and  in  slippered  feet,  as  usual,  but  had 
abandoned  the  favorite  ulster,  which  too  often  ac- 
companies extremities  thus  unclad,  to  display  their 
gayest  gowns.  The  young  men  gazed  with  intense 
interest.  Here  and  there  a  young  fellow  in  "  Eu- 
ropean clothes"  was  to  be  seen  conversing  with  the 
more  conservative  young  merchants,  who  retained  the 
wrinkled  boots  confining  full  trousers,  the  shirt  worn 
outside  the  trousers,  the  cloth  vest,  and  the  blue 
cloth  long  coat  of  traditional  cut. 

It  was  like  a  scene  from  the  theatre.  Across  the 
lake,  dotted  with  boating  parties,  stretched  lawns 
planted  with  trees  chosen  for  their  variety  of  foliage, 
from  the  silver  willow  to  the  darkest  evergreens, 
while  the  banks  were  diversified  with  a  boat-house,  a 
terraced  grotto,  a  Turkish  kiosk  with  a  bath,  bridges, 
and  so  on.  Of  the  immense  palace  which  stood  so 
near  at  hand  the  graceful  breakfast  gallery  alone 
was  visible,  while  high  above  the  waving  crests  of 
the  trees  the  five  cupolas  of  the  palace  church,  in  the 


A  RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  119 

shape  of  imperial  crowns,  seemed  to  float  in  the  clear 
blue  sky  like  golden  bubbles.  The  lawns  within  the 
acacia-hedged  compartments  were  dazzling  with  cam- 
panulas, harebells,  rose  campions,  and  crimson  and 
yellow  columbine,  or  gleamed  with  the  pale  turquoise- 
of  forget-me-nots.  We  had  only  to  enter  the  adjoin- 
ing park  surrounding  the  Alexander  Palace,  built 
for  Alexander  I.  by  his  grandmother,  Katherine  II., 
to  find  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold  realized  by 
acres  of  tall  double  Siberian  buttercups,  as  large  and 
as  fragrant  as  yellow  roses. 

Soldiers  of  the  garrison  strolled  about  quietly,  as 
usual.  The  pet  of  the  hussars  was  in  great  form, 
and  his  escort  of  admiring  comrades  was  larger  than 
ever.  They  thrust  upon  him  half  of  their  tidbits  and 
sunflower  seeds,  —  what  masses  of  sunflower  seeds 
and  handbill  cigarettes  were  consumed  that  day,  not 
to  mention  squash  seeds,  by  the  more  opulent !  —  and 
waited  eagerly  for  his  dimpled  smile  as  their  reward. 
When  the  bands  were  weary,  the  regimental  singers 
ranged  themselves  in  a  circle,  and  struck  up  songs  of 
love,  of  battle,  and  of  mirth,  amid  the  applause  and 
laughter  of  the  crowd.  Now  and  then  a  soldier  would 
step  into  the  middle  of  the  circle  and  dance.  The 
slight,  agile,  square-capped  stryelki  spun  round  until 
their  full-plaited  black  tunics  stood  out  from  their 
tightly  belted  waists  like  the  skirts  of  ballet  dancers. 
The  slender,  graceful  hussars,  with  their  yellow- 
laced  scarlet  jackets  and  tight  blue  trousers,  flitted 
to  and  fro  like  gay  birds.  The  best  performer  of  all 
was  a  cuirassier,  a  big  blond  fellow,  with  ruddy 
cheeks  and  dazzling  teeth.  Planting  his  peakless 
white  cloth  cap  with  its  yellow  band  firmly  on  his 
head,  he  stepped  forward,  grasping  in  each  hand  a 


120  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

serried  pyramid  of  brass  bells,  which  chimed  merrily 
as  he  squatted,  leaped,  and  executed  eccentric  steps 
with  his  feet,  while  his  arms  beat  time  and  his  fine 
voice  rolled  out  the  solo  of  a  rollicking  ballad,  to 
which  the  rest  of  the  company  furnished  the  chorus 
as  well  as  their  laughter  and  delighted  applause  of 
his  efforts  permitted.  His  tightly  fitting  dark  green 
trousers,  tall  boots,  and  jacket  of  white  cloth  trimmed 
with  yellow  set  off  his  muscular  form  to  great  advan- 
tage. A  comrade  stood  by,  shaking  the  buntchuk,  an 
ornamental  combination  of  brass  half -moons,  gay 
horsetails,  and  bells,  —  the  Turkish  staff  of  command, 
which  is  carried  as  a  special  privilege  by  several 
Russian  cavalry  regiments.  There  is  nothing  that  a 
company  of  Russians  likes  better  than  a  spirited 
performance  of  their  national  dances,  whether  it  be 
high-class  Russians  at  a  Russian  opera  in  the  Impe- 
rial Theatre,  or  the  masses  on  informal  occasions  tike 
the  present.  This  soldier,  who  danced  with  joy  in 
every  fibre,  was  quite  willing  to  oblige  them  indefi- 
nitely, and  seemed  to  be  made  of  steel  springs.  He 
stopped  with  great  reluctance,  and  that  only  when 
his  company  was  ordered  peremptorily  to  march  off 
to  barracks  at  the  appointed  hour. 

How  many  weddings  resulted  from  that  day's  dress 
parade  I  know  not.  But  I  presume  the  traditional 
"  match-makers  "  did  their  duty,  if  the  young  men 
were  sufficiently  impressed  by  the  girls'  outfits  to 
commission  these  professional  proposers  to  lay  their 
hearts  and  hands  at  the  feet  of  the  parents  on  the 
following  day.  They  certainly  could  not  have  been 
hopelessly  bewitched  by  any  beauty  which  was  on 
show.  The  presence  of  the  soldiers,  the  singing, 
music,  and  dancing,  framed  in  that  exquisite  park, 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  121 

combined  to  create  a  scene  the  impression  of  which 
is  far  beyond  comparison  with  that  of  the  same  pa- 
rade in  the  Summer  Garden  at  St.  Petersburg. 

This  grand  terrace  of  the  Old  Palace  is  a  favorite 
resort  for  mothers  and  children,  especially  when  the 
different  bands  of  the  Guards'  regiments  stationed  in 
the  town  furnish  music.  But  not  far  away,  in  the 
less  stately,  more  natural  park  surrounding  the  Alex- 
ander Palace,  the  property  of  the  Crown  Prince,  lies 
the  real  paradise  of  the  children  of  all  classes.  There 
is  the  playground,  provided  with  gymnastic  appara- 
tus, laid  out  at  the  foot  of  a  picturesque  tower,  one 
of  the  line  of  signal  towers,  now  mostly  demolished, 
which,  before  the  introduction  of  the  telegraph, 
flashed  news  from  Warsaw  to  St.  Petersburg  in  the 
then  phenomenally  short  space  of  twenty-four  hours. 
The  children's  favorite  amusement  is  the  "net." 
Sailors  of  the  guard  set  up  a  full-rigged  ship's  mast, 
surrounded,  about  two  feet  from  the  ground,  by  a 
wide  sweep  of  close-meshed  rope  netting  well  tarred. 
Boys  and  girls  of  ambition  climb  the  rigging,  swing, 
and  drop  into  the  net.  The  little  ones  never  weary 
of  dancing  about  on  its  yielding  surface.  A  stal- 
wart, gentle  giant  of  a  sailor  watches  over  the  safety 
of  the  merrymakers,  and  warns,  teaches,  or  helps 
them,  if  they  wish  it. 

Their  nurses,  with  pendent  bosoms  and  fat  shoul- 
ders peeping  through  the  transparent  muslin  of  their 
chemises,  make  a  bouquet  of  colors,  with  their  gay 
sarafdni,  their  many-hued  cashmere  caps  attached 
to  pearl-embroidered,  coronet-shaped  koktfshniki,  and 
terminating  in  ribbons  which  descend  to  their  heels, 
and  are  outshone  in  color  only  by  the  motley  assem- 
blage of  beads  on  their  throats. 


122  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

Here,  round  the  gymnastic  apparatus  and  the  net, 
one  is  able  for  the  first  time  to  believe  solidly  in  the 
existence  of  Russian  children.  In  town,  in  the  win- 
ter, one  has  doubted  it,  despite  occasional  coveys  of 
boys  in  military  greatcoats,  book-knapsacks  of  seal- 
skin strapped  to  their  shoulders  to  keep  their  backs 
straight,  and  officer-like  caps.  The  summer  garb  of 
the  lads  from  the  gymnasia  and  other  institutes  con- 
sists of  thin,  dark  woolen  material  or  of  coarse  gray 
linen,  made  in  the  blouse  or  Russian  shirt  form,  which 
portraits  of  Count  Lyeff  Nikolaevitch  Tolst6y,  the  au- 
thor, have  rendered  familiar  to  foreigners.  It  must 
not  be  argued  from  this  fact  that  Count  Tolst6y  set  the 
fashion  ;  far  from  it.  It  is  the  ordinary  and  sensible 
garment  in  common  use,  which  he  has  adopted  from 
others,  not  they  from  him.  It  can  be  seen  on  older 
students  any  day,  even  in  winter,  in  the  reading-room 
of  the  Imperial  Public  Library  in  St.  Petersburg,  on 
the  imperial  choir  in  the  Winter  Palace  as  undress 
uniform  for  week-day  services,  and  elsewhere. 

Some  indulgent  mothers  make  silk  blouses  for  their 
sons,  and  embroider  them  with  cross-stitch  patterns 
in  colored  floss,  as  was  the  fashion  a  number  of  years 
ago,  when  a  patriotic  outburst  of  sentiment  was  ex- 
pressed by  the  adoption  of  the  "  national  costume," 
for  house  wear,  by  adults  of  both  sexes.  From  this 
period  dates  also,  no  doubt,  that  style  of  "  peasant- 
dress  "  which  can  be  seen  occasionally,  in  unfash- 
ionable summer  resorts,  on  girls  not  of  the  highest 
class  by  any  means,  and  which  the  city  shops  furnish 
in  abundance  as  genuine  to  misguided  foreigners. 
Every  one  is  familiar  with  these  fantastic  combina- 
tions of  colored  lace  insertion  with  bands  of  blue  cot- 
ton worked  in  high  colors,  and  fashioned  into  blouses 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  123 

and  aprons  such  as  no  peasant  maid  ever  wore  or 
beheld. 

What  strikes  one  very  forcibly  about  Russian  chil- 
dren, when  one  sees  them  at  play  in  the  parks,  is 
their  quiet,  self-possessed  manners  and  their  lack  of 
boisterousness.  If  they  were  inclined  to  scream,  to 
fling  themselves  about  wildly  and  be  rude,  they 
would  assuredly  be  checked  promptly  and  effect- 
ually, since  the  rights  of  grown  people  to  peace, 
respect,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  are  still  recog- 
nized in  that  land.  But,  from  my  observation  of  the 
same  qualities  in  untutored  peasant  children,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  Russian  children  are  born  more 
agreeable  than  Western  children  ;  yet  they  seem  to 
be  as  cheerful  and  lively  as  is  necessary,  and  in  no 
way  restricted.  Whistling,  howling,  stamping,  and 
kindred  muscular  exercises  begin  just  over  the  West- 
ern frontier,  and  increase  in  violence  as  one  proceeds 
westward,  until  Japan  is  reached,  or  possibly  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  by  which  time,  I  am  told,  one 
enters  the  Orient  and  the  realm  of  peace  once  more. 

What  noise  we  heard  in  Tzarskoe  came  from  quite 
another  quarter.  As  we  were  strolling  in  the  park 
one  afternoon,  we  heard  sounds  of  uproarious  mirth 
proceeding  from  the  little  island  in  the  private  impe- 
rial garden,  where  the  Duchess  of  Edinburgh,  in  her 
girlhood,  had  a  pretty  Russian  cottage,  cow-stalls,  and 
so  forth,  with  flower  and  potato  beds.  She  and  her 
brothers  were  in  the  habit  of  planting  their  pussy 
willows,  received  on  Palm  Sunday,  on  the  bank  of 
the  stream,  and  these,  duly  labeled,  have  now  grown 
into  a  hedge  of  trees.  The  screen  is  not  perfect, 
however,  and  glimpses  of  the  playground  are  open  to 
the  public  across  the  narrow  stream.  On  this  sum- 


124  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

mer  afternoon,  there  was  a  party  of  royalties  on  the 
island,  swinging  on  the  Giant  Steps.  The  Giant 
Steps,  I  must  explain,  consist  of  a  tall,  stout  mast 
firmly  planted  in  the  earth,  bound  with  iron  at  the 
top,  and  upholding  a  thick  iron  ring  to  which  are 
attached  heavy  cables  which  touch  the  ground.  The 
game  consists  of  a  number  of  persons  seizing  hold  of 
these  cables,  running  round  the  mast  until  sufficient 
impetus  is  acquired,  and  then  swinging  through  the 
air  in  a  circle.  The  TzareVitch,1  who  had  driven  over 
from  the  great  camp  at  Kr&snoe  Selo,  and  whom  I 
had  seen  in  the  church  of  the  Old  Palace  that  morn- 
ing at  a  special  mass,  with  the  angelic  imperial  choir 
and  the  priests  from  the  Winter  Palace  sent  down 
from  Petersburg  for  the  occasion,  was  now  sailing 
through  the  air  high  up  toward  the  apex  of  the  mast. 
One  of  his  imperial  aunts,  clad  in  a  fleecy  white 
gown,  occupied  a  similar  position  on  another  cable. 
It  was  plain  that  they  could  not  have  done  their  own 
running  to  gain  impetus,  and  that  the  gardeners 
must  have  towed  them  by  the  ends  of  the  ropes.  The 
other  grand  dukes  and  duchesses  were  managing 
their  own  cables  in  the  usual  manner.  The  party 
included  the  king  and  queen  of  Greece  and  other 
royal  spectators.  What  interested  me  most  was  to 
hear  them  all  shrieking  and  conversing  in  Russian, 
with  only  occasional  lapses  into  French,  instead  of 
the  reverse. 

But  everything  is  not  royal  in  the  vicinity  of  these 
summer  parks  and  palaces.  For  example,  just  out- 
side of  Tzarskoe  Selo,  on  the  Petersburg  highway, 
lies  a  Russian  village  called  Kuzmino,  whose  inhabit- 
ants are  as  genuine,  unmodified  peasants  as  if  they 
1  The  present  Emperor,  Nicholas  II. 


A  RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  125 

lived  a  hundred  miles  from  any  provincial  town. 
Here  in  the  north,  where  timber  is  plentiful,  cottages 
are  raised  from  the  ground  by  a  half-story,  with- 
out windows,  which  serves  as  a  storeroom  for  carts, 
sledges,  and  farming  implements.  The  entrance  is 
through  a  door  beside  the  large  courtyard  gate,  which 
rears  its  heavy  frame  on  the  street  line,  adjoining 
the  house,  in  Russian  fashion.  A  rough  staircase 
leads  to  the  dwelling-rooms  over  the  shed  storeroom. 
Three  tiny  windows  on  the  street  front,  with  solid 
wooden  shutters,  are  the  ordinary  allowance  for 
light.  In  Kuzmino,  many  of  the  windows  had  deli- 
cate, clean  white  curtains,  and  all  were  filled  with 
blooming  plants.  A  single  window,  for  symmetry, 
and  a  carved  balcony  fill  in  the  sharp  gable  end  of 
such  houses,  but  open  into  nothing,  and  the  window 
is  not  even  glazed.  Carved  horses'  heads,  rude  but 
recognizable,  tuft  the  peak,  and  lacelike  wood  carving 
droops  from  the  eaves.  The  roofs  also  are  of  wood. 

This  was  the  style  of  the  cottages  in  Kuzmino. 
The  name  of  the  owner  was  inscribed  on  the  corner 
of  each  house  ;  and  there  appeared  to  be  but  two 
surnames,  at  most  three,  in  the  whole  village.  One 
new  but  unfinished  house  seemed  to  have  been  built 
from  the  ridgepole  downward,  instead  of  in  the  usual 
order.  There  were  no  doorways  or  stairs  or  aper- 
tures for  communication  between  the  stories,  which 
were  two  in  number.  It  was  an  architectural  riddle. 

As  a  stroll  to  the  village  had  consumed  an  unex- 
pected amount  of  time,  we  found  ourselves,  at  the 
breakfast  hour,  miles  away  from  our  hotel.  We  in- 
stituted a  search  for  milk,  and  were  directed  at  ran- 
dom, it  seemed,  until  a  withered  little  old  peasant, 
who  was  evidently  given  to  tippling,  enlisted  himself 


126  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

as  our  guide.  He  took  us  to  the  house  of  a  woman 
who  carried  milk  and  cream  to  town  twice  a  week, 
and  introduced  us  with  a  comical  flourish. 

The  family  consisted  of  an  old  woman,  as  dried 
and  colorless  as  a  Russian  codfish  from  Arkhangel, 
but  very  clean  and  active ;  her  son,  a  big,  fresh-col- 
ored fellow,  with  a  mop  of  dark  brown  curls,  well 
set  off  by  his  scarlet  cotton  blouse ;  his  wife,  a  slen- 
der, red-cheeked  brunette,  with  delicate,  pretty  fea- 
tures ;  and  their  baby  girl.  They  treated  us  like 
friends  come  to  make  a  call ;  refused  to  accept  money 
for  their  cream  ;  begged  us  to  allow  them  to  prepare 
the  samovar,  as  a  favor  to  them,  and  send  for  white 
rolls,  as  they  were  sure  we  could  not  eat  their  sour 
black  bread ;  and  expressed  deep  regret  that  their 
berries  were  all  gone,  as  the  season  was  past.  They 
showed  us  over  their  house  in  the  prettiest,  simplest 
way,  and  introduced  us  to  the  dark  storeroom  where 
their  spare  clothing  and  stores  of  food  for  the  winter, 
such  as  salted  cucumbers  in  casks,  and  other  property, 
were  packed  away  ;  to  a  narrow  slip  of  a  room  on 
the  front,  where  the  meals  for  the  family  were  pre- 
pared with  remarkably  few  pots  and  no  pans ;  to  the 
living-room,  with  its  whitewashed  stone-and-mud  oven 
in  one  corner,  for  both  cooking  and  heating,  a  bench 
running  round  the  walls  on  three  sides,  and  a  clean 
pine  table  in  the  corner  of  honor,  where  hung  the 
holy  images.  They  had  a  fine  collection  of  these 
images,  which  were  a  sign  of  prosperity  as  well  as  of 
devotion.  The  existence  of  another  tiny  room  also 
bore  witness  to  easy  circumstances.  In  this  room 
they  slept ;  and  the  baby,  who  was  taking  her  noon- 
day nap,  was  exhibited  to  us  by  the  proud  papa. 
Her  cradle  consisted  of  a  splint  market  basket 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  127 

suspended  from  the  ceiling  by  a  stout  wire  spring, 
like  the  spring  of  a  bird-cage,  and  rocked  gently. 
The  baby  gazed  at  us  with  bright,  bird-like  eyes  and 
smiled  quietly  when  she  woke,  as  though  she  had 
inherited  her  parents'  gentle  ways.  We  believed 
them  when  they  said  that  she  never  cried  ;  we  had 
already  discovered  that  this  was  the  rule  with  Rus- 
sian children  of  all  classes. 

They  were  much  interested  to  learn  from  what 
country  we  came.  I  was  prepared  to  find  them  un- 
acquainted with  the  situation  of  America,  after  hav- 
ing been  asked  by  an  old  soldier  in  the  park,  "  In 
what  district  of  Russia  is  America  ?  "  and  after  having 
been  told  by  an  izvdstchik  that  the  late  Empress  had 
come  from  my  country,  since  "  Germany  "  meant  for 
him  all  the  world  which  was  not  Russia,  just  as  the 
adjective  "  German "  signifies  anything  foreign  and 
not  wholly  approved. 

"Is  America  near  Berlin?"  asked  our  peasant 
hosts. 

"  Farther  than  that,"  I  replied. 

They  laughed,  and  gave  up  the  riddle  after  a  few 
more  equally  wild  guesses. 

"It  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  world,"  I  said. 

"  Then  you  must  be  nearer  God  than  we  are !  " 
they  exclaimed,  with  a  sort  of  reverence  for  people 
who  came  from  the  suburbs  of  heaven. 

"  Surely,"  I  said,  "  you  do  not  think  that  the  earth 
is  flat,  and  that  we  live  on  the  upper  side,  and  you  on 
the  lower  ?  " 

But  that  was  precisely  what  they  did  think,  in 
their  modesty,  and,  as  it  seemed  a  hopeless  task  to 
demonstrate  to  them  the  sphericity  of  the  globe,  I 
left  them  in  that  flattering  delusion. 


128  A  RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

I  asked  the  old  woman  to  explain  her  holy  pictures 
to  me,  as  I  always  enjoyed  the  quaint  expressions  and 
elucidations  of  the  peasants,  and  inquired  whether 
she  thought  the  ik6na  of  the  Virgin  was  the  Virgin 
herself.  I  had  heard  it  asserted  very  often  by  over- 
wise  foreigners  that  this  was  the  idea  entertained  by 
all  Russians,  without  regard  to  class,  and  especially 
by  the  peasants. 

"  No,"  she  replied,  "  but  it  shows  the  Virgin 
Mother  to  me,  just  as  your  picture  would  show  you 
to  me  when  you  were  on  the  other  side  of  the  world, 
and  remind  me  of  you.  Only  —  how  shall  I  say  it? 
—  there  is  more  power  in  a  wonder-working  ik6na 
like  this." 

She  handed  me  one  which  depicted  the  Virgin  com- 
pletely surrounded  by  a  halo  of  starlike  points  shaded 
in  red  and  yellow  flames.  It  is  called  "  the  Virgin- 
of-the-Bush-that-burned-but-was-not-consumed,"  evi- 
dently a  reminiscence  of  Moses.  She  attached  par- 
ticular value  to  it  because  of  the  aid  rendered  on  the 
occasion  which  had  demonstrated  its  "  wonder-work- 
ing "  (miraculous)  powers.  It  appeared  that  a  dan- 
gerous fire  had  broken  out  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
was  rapidly  consuming  the  close-set  wooden  village, 
as  such  fires  generally  do  without  remedy.  As  the 
fire  had  been  started  by  the  lightning,  on  St.  Ilya's 
Day  (St.  Elijah's),  no  earthly  power  could  quench 
it  but  the  milk  from  a  jet-black  cow,  which  no  one 
chanced  to  have  on  hand.  Seeing  the  flames  ap- 
proach, my  old  woman,  Domna  Nikolaevna  T.,  seized 
the  holy  image,  ran  out,  and  held  it  facing  the  confla- 
gration, uttering  the  proper  prayer  the  while.  Im- 
mediately a  strong  wind  arose  and  drove  the  flames 
off  in  a  safe  direction,  and  the  village  was  rescued. 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  129 

She  had  a  thanksgiving  service  celebrated  in  the 
church,  and  placed  I  know  not  how  many  candles  to 
the  Virgin's  honor,  as  did  the  other  villagers.  Thus 
they  had  learned  that  there  was  divine  power  in  this 
ik6na,  although  it  was  not,  strictly  speaking,  "won- 
der-working," since  it  had  not  been  officially  recog- 
nized as  such  by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities. 

These  people  seemed  happy  and  contented  with 
their  lot.  Not  one  of  them  could  read  or  write  much, 
the  old  woman  not  at  all.  They  cultivated  berries 
for  market  as  well  as  carried  on  the  milk  business  ; 
and  when  we  rose  to  go,  they  entreated  us  to  come 
out  on  their  plot  of  land  and  see  whether  some  could 
not  be  found.  To  their  grief,  only  a  few  small  cher- 
ries were  to  be  discovered,  —  it  was  September,  — 
and  these  they  forced  upon  us.  As  we  had  hurt  their 
feelings  by  leaving  money  on  the  table  to  pay  for  the 
cream,  we  accepted  the  cherries  by  way  of  compro- 
mise. The  old  woman  chatted  freely  in  her  garden. 
She  had  been  a  serf,  and,  in  her  opinion,  things  were 
not  much  changed  for  the  better,  except  in  one  re- 
spect. All  the  people  in  this  village  had  been  crown 
serfs,  it  seemed.  The  lot  of  the  crown  serfs  was 
easier  in  every  way  than  that  of  the  ordinary  private 
serfs,  so  that  the  emancipation  only  put  a  definite 
name  to  the  practical  freedom  which  they  already 
enjoyed,  and  added  a  few  minor  privileges,  with  the 
ownership  of  a  somewhat  larger  allotment  of  land 
than  the  serfs  of  the  nobility  received.  I  knew  this: 
she  was  hardly  capable  of  giving  me  so  complete  a 
summary  of  their  condition.  But  —  it  was  the  usual 
but,  I  found  —  they  had  to  work  much  harder  now 
than  before,  in  order  to  live.  The  only  real  improve- 
ment which  she  could  think  of,  on  the  inspiration  of 


130  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

the  moment,  was,  that  a  certain  irascible  crown  offi- 
cial, who  had  had  charge  of  them  in  the  olden  days, 
and  whose  name  she  mentioned,  who  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  distributing  beatings  with  a  lavish  hand 
whenever  the  serfs  displeased  him  or  obeyed  reluc- 
tantly, had  been  obliged  to  restrain  his  temper  after 
the  emancipation. 

"  Nowadays,  there  is  no  one  to  order  us  about  like 
that,  or  to  thrash  us,"  she  remarked. 

We  found  our  fuddled  old  peasant  guide  hanging 
about  for  "  tea-money,"  when  we  bade  farewell  to  my 
friend  D<5mna,  who,  with  her  family,  offered  us  her 
hand  at  parting.  He  was  not  too  thoroughly  soaked 
with  "  tea"  already  not  to  be  able  to  draw  the  infer- 
ence that  our  long  stay  with  the  milkwoman  indicated 
pleasure,  and  he  intimated  that  the  introduction  fee 
ought  to  be  in  proportion  to  our  enjoyment.  We  re- 
sponded so  cheerfully  to  this  demand  that  he  imme- 
diately discovered  the  existence  of  a  dozen  historical 
monuments  and  points  of  interest  in  the  tiny  village, 
all  invented  on  the  spot ;  and  when  we  dismissed  him 
peremptorily,  he  took  great  care  to  impress  his  name 
and  the  position  of  his  hut  on  our  memories,  for  fu- 
ture use. 

We  had  already  seen  the  only  object  of  any  inter- 
est, the  large  church  far  away  down  the  mile-long 
street.  We  had  found  a  festival  mass  in  progress,  as 
it  happened  to  be  one  of  the  noted  holidays  of  the 
year.  As  we  stood  a  little  to  one  side,  listening  to 
the  sweet  but  unsophisticated  chanting  of  the  village 
lads,  who  had  had  no  training  beyond  that  given  in 
the  village  school,  a  woman  approached  us  with  a 
tiny  coffin  tucked  under  one  arm.  Trestles  were 
brought ;  she  set  it  down  on  them,  beside  us.  It  was 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  131 

very  plain  in  form,  made  of  the  commonest  wood, 
and  stained  a  bright  yellow  with  a  kind  of  thin  wash, 
instead  of  the  vivid  pink  which  seems  to  be  the  favor- 
ite hue  for  children's  coffins  in  town.  The  baby's 
father  removed  the  lid,  which  comprised  exactly  half 
the  depth,  the  mother  smoothed  out  the  draperies, 
and  they  took  their  stand  near  by.  Several  strips  of 
the  coarsest  pink  tarlatan  were  draped  across  the  lit- 
tle waxen  brow  and  along  the  edges  of  the  coffin. 
On  these  lay  such  poor  flowers  as  the  lateness  of  the 
season  and  the  poverty  of  the  parents  could  afford, 
—  small,  half-withered  or  frost-bitten  dahlias,  pop- 
pies, and  one  stray  corn-flower.  The  parents  looked 
gently  resigned,  patient,  sorrowful,  but  tearless,  as  is 
the  Russian  manner.  After  the  liturgy  and  special 
prayers  for  the  day,  the  funeral  service  was  begun ; 
but  we  went  out  into  the  graveyard  surrounding  the 
church,  and  ran  the  gauntlet  of  the  beggars  at  the 
door,  —  beggars  in  the  midst  of  poverty,  to  whom 
the  poor  gave  their  mites  with  gentle  sympathy. 

Russian  graveyards  are  not,  as  a  rule,  like  the 
sunny,  cheerful  homes  of  the  dead  to  which  we  are 
accustomed.  This  one  was  especially  melancholy, 
with  its  narrow,  tortuous  paths,  uncared-for  plots, 
and  crosses  of  unpainted  wood  blackened  by  the 
weather.  The  most  elaborate  monuments  did  not 
rise  above  tin  crosses  painted  to  simulate  birch 
boughs.  It  was  strictly  a  peasant  cemetery,  utterly 
lacking  in  graves  of  the  higher  classes,  or  even  of  the 
well  to  do. 

On  its  outskirts,  where  the  flat,  treeless  plain  be- 
gan again,  we  found  a  peasant  sexton  engaged  in 
digging  a  grave.  His  conversation  was  depressing, 
not  because  he  dwelt  unduly  upon  death  and  kindred 


132  A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT. 

subjects,  but  because  his  views  of  life  were  so  pessi- 
mistic. Why,  for  example,  did  it  enter  his  brain  to 
warn  me  that  the  Finnish  women  of  the  neighboring 
villages,  —  all  the  country  round  about  is  the  old 
Finnish  Ingermannland, — in  company  with  the  wo- 
men of  his  own  village,  were  in  the  habit  of  buying 
stale  eggs  at  the  Tzarskoe  Selo  shops  to  mix  with 
their  fresh  eggs,  which  they  sold  in  the  market,  the 
same  with  intent  to  deceive?  A  stale  egg  explains  it- 
self as  promptly  and  as  thoroughly  as  anything  I  am 
acquainted  with,  not  excepting  Limburger  cheese,  and 
Katiusha  and  I  had  had  no  severe  experiences  with 
the  women  whom  he  thus  un flatteringly  described. 
He  seemed  a  thoroughly  disillusioned  man,  and  we 
left  him  at  last,  with  an  involuntary  burden  of  misan- 
thropic ideas,  though  he  addressed  me  persistently  as 
galtibtchik,  —  "  dear  little  dove,"  literally  translated. 
If  I  were  to  undertake  to  chronicle  the  inner  life 
of  Tz&rskoe,  the  characteristics  of  the  inhabitants 
from  whom  I  received  favors  and  kind  deeds  without 
number,  information,  and  whatever  else  they  could 
think  of  to  bestow  or  I  could  ask,  I  should  never 
have  done.  But  there  is  much  that  is  instructive  in 
all  ranks  of  life  to  be  gathered  from  a  prolonged  so- 
journ in  this  "Imperial  Village^'  where  world-famed 
palaces  have  their  echoes  aroused  at  seven  in  the 
morning  by  a  gentle  shepherd  like  the  shepherd  of 
the  remotest  provincial  hamlets,  a  strapping  peasant 
in  a  scarlet  cotton  blouse  and  blue  homespun  linen 
trousers  tucked  into  tall  wrinkled  boots,  and  armed 
with  a  fish-horn,  which  he  toots  at  the  intersection  of 
the  macadamized  streets  to  assemble  the  village  cat- 
tle; where  the  strawberry  peddler,  recognizable  by 
the  red  cloth  spread  over  the  tray  borne  upon  his 


A   RUSSIAN  SUMMER  RESORT.  133 

head,  and  the  herring  vender,  and  rival  ice-cream 
dealers  deafen  one  with  their  cries,  in  true  city  fash- 
ion ;  where  the  fire  department  alarms  one  by  setting 
fire  to  the  baker's  chimneys  opposite,  and  then  play- 
ing upon  them,  by  way  of  cleaning  them  ;  where 
Tatars,  soldiers,  goats,  cows,  pet  herons,  rude  peasant 
carts,  policemen,  and  inhabitants  share  the  middle  of 
the  road  with  the  liveried  equipages  of  royalty  and 
courtiers;  where  the  crows  and  pigeons  assert  rights 
equal  to  those  of  man,  except  that  they  go  to  roost  at 
eight  o'clock  on  the  nightless  "  white  nights  ;  "  and 
where  one  never  knows  whether  one  will  encounter 
the  Emperor  of  all  the  Russias  or  a  barefooted  Finn, 
when  one  turns  a  corner. 


VII. 

A  STROLL  IN  MOSCOW  WITH  COUNT  TOLSTOY. 

"  HAVE  you  ever  visited  a  church  of  the  Old  Believ- 
ers?" Count  Tolstoy  asked  me  one  evening.  We 
were  sitting  round  the  supper-table  at  Count  Tol- 
st6y's  house  in  Moscow.  I  was  just  experimenting 
on  some  pickled  mushrooms  from  Yasnaya  Polyana, 
—  the  daintiest  little  mushrooms  which  I  encountered 
in  that  mushroom-eating  land.  The  mushrooms  and 
question  furnished  a  diversion  which  was  needed. 
The  baby  and  younger  children  were  in  bed.  The 
elders  of  the  family,  some  relatives,  and  ourselves  had 
been  engaged  in  a  lively  discussion ;  or,  rather,  I  had 
been  discussing  matters  with  the  count,  while  the 
others  joined  in  from  time  to  time.  It  began  with 
the  Moscow  beggars. 

"  I  understand  them  now,  and  what  you  wrote  of 
them,"  I  said.  "  I  have  neither  the  purse  of  Fortu- 
natus  nor  a  heart  of  flint.  If  I  refuse  their  prayers,  I 
feel  wicked ;  if  I  give  them  five  kopeks,  I  feel  mean. 
It  seems  too  little  to  help  them  to  anything  but 
vtidka;  and  if  I  give  ten  kopeks,  they  hold  it  out 
at  arm's  length,  look  at  it  and  me  suspiciously; 
and  then  I  feel  so  provoked  that  I  give  not  a  copper 
to  any  one  for  days.  It  seems  to  do  no  good." 

"  No,"  said  Count  Tolst6y  with  a  troubled  look ; 
"  it  does  no  good.  Giving  money  to  any  one  who  asks 
is  not  doing  good ;  it  is  a  mere  civility.  If  a  beggar 


A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW.  135 

asks  me  for  five  kopeks,  or  five  rubles,  or  five  hun- 
dred rubles,  I  must  give  it  to  him  as  a  politeness, 
nothing  more,  provided  I  have  it  about  me.  It  prob- 
ably always  goes  for  v6dka." 

"  But  what  is  one  to  do  ?  I  have  sometimes  thought 
that  I  would  buy  my  man  some  bread  and  see  that  he 
ate  it  when  he  specifies  what  the  money  is  for.  But, 
by  a  singular  coincidence,  they  never  ask  for  bread- 
money  within  eye-shot  of  a  bakery.  I  suppose  that  it 
would  be  better  for  me  to  take  the  trouble  to  hunt 
one  up  and  give  the  bread." 

"  No ;  for  you  only  buy  the  bread.  It  costs  you 
no  personal  labor." 

"  But  suppose  I  had  made  the  bread  ?  —  I  can 
make  capital  bread,  only  I  cannot  make  it  here  where 
I  have  no  conveniences;  so  I  give  the  money  in- 
stead." 

"  If  you  had  made  the  bread,  still  you  would  not 
have  raised  the  grain,  —  plowed,  sowed,  reaped, 
threshed,  and  ground  it.  It  would  not  be  your  labor." 

"  If  that  is  the  case,  then  I  have  just  done  a  very 
evil  thing.  I  have  made  some  caps  for  the  Siberian 
exiles  in  the  Forwarding  Prison.  It  would  have  been 
better  to  let  their  shaved  heads  freeze." 

"  Why?  You  gave  your  labor,  your-time.  In  that 
time  you  could  probably  have  done  something  that 
would  have  pleased  you  better." 

44  Certainly.  But  if  one  is  to  dig  up  the  roots  of 
one's  deeds  and  motives,  mine  might  be  put  thus  : 
The  caps  were  manufactured  from  remnants  of  wool 
which  were  of  no  use  to  me  and  only  encumbered 
my  trunk.  I  refused  to  go  and  deliver  them  myself. 
They  were  put  with  a  lot  of  other  caps  made  from 
scraps  on  equally  vicious  principles.  And,  moreover, 


136  A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW. 

I  neither  plowed  the  land,  sowed  the  grass,  fed  the 
sheep,  sheared  him,  cleansed  and  spun  the  wool,  and 
so  on ;  neither  did  I  manufacture  the  needle  for  the 
work." 

The  count  retreated  to  his  former  argument, — 
that  one's  personal  labor  is  the  only  righteous  thing 
which  can  be  given  to  one's  fellow-man ;  and  that  the 
labor  must  be  given  unquestioningly  when  asked  for. 

"  But  it  cannot  always  be  right  to  work  unques- 
tioningly. There  are  always  plenty  of  people  who 
are  glad  to  get  their  work  done  for  them.  That  is 
human  nature." 

"  We  have  nothing  to  do  with  that,"  he  answered. 
"  If  a  man  asks  me  to  build  his  house  or  plow  his 
field,  I  am  bound  to  do  it,  just  as  I  am  bound  to  give 
the  beggar  whatever  he  asks  for,  if  I  have  it.  It  is  no 
business  of  mine  why  he  asks  me  to  do  it." 

"  But  suppose  the  man  is  lazy,  or  wants  to  get  his 
work  done  while  he  is  idling,  enjoying  himself,  or 
earning  money  elsewhere  for  vtidka  or  what  not  ?  I 
do  not  object  to  helping  the  weak,  or  those  who  do 
not  attempt  to  shirk.  One  must  use  discrimination." 

But  Count  Tolst6y  persisted  that  the  reason  for 
the  request  was  no  business  of  the  man  anxious  to  do 
his  duty  by  aiding  his  fellow-men,  although  his  sensi- 
ble wife  came  to  my  assistance  by  saying  that  she 
always  looked  into  the  matter  before  giving  help,  on 
the  grounds  which  I  had  stated.  So  I  attacked  from 
another  quarter. 

"  Ought  not  every  person  to  do  as  much  as  possi- 
ble for  himself,  and  not  call  upon  others  unless  com- 
pelled to  do  so  ?" 

"  Certainly." 

"  Very  good.     I  am  strong,  well,  perfectly  capable 


A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW.  137 

of  waiting  on  myself.  But  I  detest  putting  on  my 
heavy  Russian  galoshes,  and  my  big  cloak ;  and  I 
never  do  either  when  I  can  possibly  avoid  it.  I  have 
no  right  to  ask  you  to  put  on  my  galoshes,  suppos- 
ing that  there  were  no  lackey  at  hand.  But  suppose 
I  were  to  ask  it  ?  " 

" 1  would  do  it  with  pleasure,''  replied  the  count, 
his  earnest  face  relaxing  into  a  smile.  "  I  will  mend 
your  boots,  also,  if  you  wish." 

I  thanked  him,  with  regret  that  my  boots  were 
whole,  and  pursued  my  point.  "  But  you  ought  to 
refuse.  It  would  be  your  duty  to  teach  me  my  duty 
of  waiting  on  myself.  You  would  have  no  right  to 
encourage  me  in  my  evil  ways." 

We  argued  the  matter  on  these  lines.  He  started 
from  the  conviction  that  one  should  follow  the  ex- 
ample of  Christ,  who  healed  and  helped  all  without 
questioning  their  motives  or  deserts ;  I  taking  the 
ground  that,  while  Christ  "  knew  the  heart  of  man," 
man  could  not  know  the  heart  of  his  brother-man, 
—  at  least  not  always  on  first  sight,  though  after- 
ward he  could  make  a  tolerably  shrewd  guess  as  to 
whether  he  was  being  used  as  a  cat's-paw  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  shiftless.  But  he  stuck  firmly 
to  his  "  resist  not  evil  "  doctrine  ;  while  I  maintained 
that  the  very  doctrine  admitted  that  it  was  "  evil " 
by  making  use  of  the  word  at  all,  hence  a  thing  to 
be  preached  and  practiced  against.  Perhaps  Count 
Tolstoy  had  never  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  meet 
certain  specimens  of  the  human  race  which  it  has 
been  my  ill-luck  to  observe ;  so  we  both  still  held 
our  positions,  after  a  long  skirmish,  and  silence 
reigned  for  a  few  moments.  Then  the  count  asked, 
with  that  winning  air  of  good-will  and  interest  which 
is  peculiar  to  him  :  — 


138  A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW. 

"  Have  you  ever  visited  a  church  of  the  Old  Be- 
lievers ?  " " 

"  No.  They  told  me  that  there  was  one  in  Pe- 
tersburg, but  that  I  should  not  be  admitted  because 
I  wore  a  bonnet  instead  of  a  kerchief,  and  did  not 
know  how  to  cross  myself  and  bow  properly." 

"  I  '11  take  you,  if  you  like,"  be  said.  "  We  will 
go  as  guests  of  the  priest.  He  is  a  friend  of  mine." 
Then  he  told  us  about  it.  Many  years  ago,  a  band 
of  Kazaks  and  their  pi^ests  migrated  across  the  fron- 
tier into  Turkey  because  they  were  "  Old  Believers ;  " 
that  is  to  say,  they  belonged  to  the  sect  which  re- 
fused to  accept  the  reforms  of  errors  (which  had 
crept  into  the  service-books  and  ritual  through  the 
carelessness  of  copyists  and  ignorance  of  the  proper 
forms)  instituted  by  the  Patriarch  Nikon  in  the  time 
of  Peter  the  Great's  father,  after  consulting  the 
Greek  Patriarchs  and  books.  In  earlier  times,  these 
Old  Believers  burned  themselves  by  the  thousand. 
In  the  present  century,  this  b;md  of  Kazaks  simply 
emigrated.  Then  came  the  Crimean  war.  The  Ka- 
zaks set  out  for  the  wars,  the  priest  blessed  them 
for  the  campaign,  and  prayed  for  victory  against 
Russia.  Moreover,  they  went  to  battle  with  their 
flock,  and  were  captured.  Prisoners  of  war,  traitors 
to  both  church  and  state,  these  three  priests  were 
condemned  to  residence  in  a  monastery  in  Suzdal. 
"  I  was  in  the  army  then,"  said  Count  Tolst6y,  "  and 
heard  of  the  matter  at  the  time.  Then  I  forgot  all 
about  it ;  so  did  everybody  else,  apparently.  Long 
afterward,  an  Old  Believer,  a  merchant  in  Tula, 
spoke  to  me  about  it,  and  I  found  that  the  three 
priests  were  still  alive  and  in  the  monastery.  I  man- 
aged to  get  them  released,  and  we  became  friends. 


A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW.  139 

One  died  ;  one  of  the  others  is  here  in  Moscow,  a 
very  old  man  now.  We  will  go  and  see  him,  but  I 
must  find  out  the  hour  of  the  evening  service.  You 
will  see  the  ritual  as  it  was  three  hundred  years  ago." 

"  You  must  not  utter  a  word,  or  smile,"  said  one  of 
the  company.  "  They  will  think  that  you  are  ridi- 
culing them,  and  will  turn  you  out." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  the  count.  "  Still,  it  is  better  not 
to  speak." 

"  I  have  had  some  experience,"  I  remarked.  "  Last 
Sunday,  at  the  Saviour  Cathedral,  I  asked  my  mother 
if  I  should  hold  her  heavy  fur  coat  for  her ;  and 
she  smiled  slightly  as  she  said,  4  No,  thank  you.'  A 
peasant  heard  our  foreign  tongue,  saw  the  smile,  and 
really  alarmed  us  by  the  fierce  way  in  which  he  glared 
at  us.  We  only  appeased  his  wrath  by  bowing  low 
when  the  priest  came  out  with  the  incense." 

So  that  plan  was  made,  and  some  others. 

When  we  were  descending  the  stairs,  Count  Tol- 
st6y  came  out  upon  the  upper  landing,  which  is  dec- 
orated with  the  skin  of  the  big  bear  which  figures  in 
one  of  his  stories,  and  called  after  us  :  — 

"  Shall  you  be  ashamed  of  my  dress  when  I  come 
to  the  hotel  for  you  ?  " 

"  I  am  ashamed  that  you  should  ask  such  a  ques- 
tion," I  answered ;  and  he  laughed  and  retreated. 
I  allowed  the  lackey  to  put  on  my  galoshes  and  coat, 
as  usual,  by  the  way. 

The  next  afternoon  there  came  a  series  of  remark- 
able knocks  upon  our  door,  like  a  volley  of  artillery, 
which  carried  me  across  the  room  in  one  bound. 
Servants,  messengers,  and  the  like,  so  rarely  knock 
in  Russia  that  one  gets  into  the  way  of  expecting 
to  see  the  door  open  without  warning  at  any  moment, 


140  A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW. 

when  it  is  not  locked,  and  rather  forgets  what  to  do 
with  a  knock  when  a  caller  comes  directly  to  one's 
room  and  announces  himself  in  the  ordinary  way. 
There  stood  Count  Tolstoy.  He  wore  a  peasant's 
sheepskin  coat  (tul{ip).  The  tulup,  I  will  explain, 
is  a  garment  consisting  of  a  fitted  body  and  a  full, 
ballet  skirt,  gathered  on  the  waist  line  and  reaching 
to  the  knees.  The  wool  is  worn  on  the  inside.  The 
tanned  leather  exterior  varies,  when  new,  from  snow 
white  to  gray,  pale  or  deep  yellow,  or  black,  accord- 
ing to  taste.  A  little  colored  chain-stitching  in  pat- 
terns on  the  breast  and  round  the  neck  gives  firm- 
ness where  required.  In  this  case  the  tulup  was  of 
a  deep  yellow  hue  ;  over  it  streamed  his  gray  beard  ; 
peasant  boots  of  gray  felt,  reaching  to  the  knee,  and 
a  gray  wool  cap  of  domestic  manufacture  completed 
his  costume. 

"  It  is  too  cold  for  our  expedition,  and  I  am  afraid 
that  I  started  a  little  late  also,"  he  said,  as  he  di- 
vested himself  of  his  sheepskin.  "  I  will  find  out  the 
exact  hour  of  service,  and  we  will  go  on  Christmas 
Eve." 

It  was  only  15°  to  20°  below  zero  Fahrenheit,  and 
I  felt  inclined  to  remonstrate.  But  it  is  useless  to 
argue  with  a  Russian  about  the  thermometer ;  and, 
moreover,  I  discovered  that  the  count  had  come  all 
the  long  way  on  foot,  and  was  probably  afraid  of 
freezing  us.  I  politely  but  not  quite  truthfully  agreed 
that  Christmas  Eve  was  a  better  time. 

Presently  he  proposed  to  go  to  the  shop  where 
books  for  popular  reading  are  published  by  the  mil- 
lion at  from  one  and  a  half  to  five  kopeks.  He  had 
business  there  in  connection  with  some  popular  edi- 
tions of  the  masterpieces  of  all  ages  and  literatures. 


A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW.  141 

The  temperature  of  our  room  was  65°,  but  the 
count's  felt  boots  and  a  cardigan  jacket,  worn  over 
his  ordinary  costume  of  dark  blue  trousers  and  strap- 
belted  blouse,  made  him  uncomfortable,  and  he  sought 
coolness  in  the  hall  while  we  donned  our  outdoor 
garments.  The  only  concession  in  the  way  of  cos- 
tume which  I  could  make  to  suit  the  occasion  was  to 
use  a  wool  instead  of  a  fur  cap. 

This  was  not  sufficient  to  prevent  us  from  being  a 
remarkable  trio  in  the  eyes  of  all  beholders,  begin- 
ning with  the  real  muzhik  ("  boots  ")  and  the  waiter, 
who  were  peering  round  corners  in  disapproval.  Our 
appearance  at  the  door  effected  a  miracle.  I  could 
not  believe  my  ears,  but  not  one  of  the  numerous 
cabbies  standing  in  front  of  the  hotel  opened  his  lips 
to  offer  his  services.  Ordinarily,  we  had  to  run  the 
gauntlet  of  offers.  On  this  occasion  the  men  simply 
ranged  themselves  in  a  silent,  gaping  row,  and  let  us 
pass  in  peace.  I  had  not  supposed  that  anything 
could  quell  a  Russian  cabby's  tongue.  Did  they  rec- 
ognize the  count  ?  I  doubt  it.  I  had  been  told  that 
every  one  in  Moscow  knew  him  and  his  costume; 
but  diligent  inquiry  of  my  cabbies  always  elicited  a 
negative.  In  one  single  instance  the  man  added : 
"  But  the  count 's  a  good  gentleman  and  a  very  inti- 
mate friend  of  a  chum  of  mine  !  " 

"  Are  you  a  good  walker  ?  "  nsked  the  count,  as  he 
plied  his  thick  stick,  evidently  recently  cut  in  the 
grove  adjoining  his  house.  "  I  walk  everywhere 
myself.  I  never  ride  ;  I  can't,  for  I  never  have  any 
money." 

I  announced  myself  as  a  crack  pedestrian,  —  but 
not  when  burdened  with  Russian  coat  and  galoshes. 
And  I  added:  "  I  hope  that  you  do  not  expect  us  to 


142  A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW. 

walk  all  those  versts  to  church,  because  we  must 
stand  through  the  whole  service  afterward ;  they 
would  be  too  strict  to  allow  us  chairs." 

"  We  will  go  in  the  horse-cars,  then,"  he  replied. 
"  But  this  constant  use  of  horses  is  a  relic  of  bar- 
barism. As  we  are  growing  more  civilized,  in  ten 
years  from  now  horses  will  have  gone  out  of  use  en- 
tirely. But  I  am  sure  that,  in  enlightened  Amer- 
ica, you  do  not  ride  so  much  as  we  do  here." 

Familiar  as  I  am  with  Count  Tolst<5y's  theories, 
this  was  a  brand-new  one  to  me.  I  thought  of  sev- 
eral answers.  Bicycles  I  rejected  as  a  suggestion, 
because  the  physical  labor  seems  to  be  counterbal- 
anced by  the  cost  of  the  steel  steed.  I  also  restrained 
myself  from  saying  that  we  were  coming  to  look  upon 
horses  as  a  rather  antiquated,  slow,  and  unreliable 
mode  of  locomotion.  I  did  not  care  to  destroy  the 
count's  admiration  for  American  ways  too  suddenly 
and  ruthlessly,  so  I  said :  — 

"  I  think  that  people  ride  more  and  more,  with  us, 
every  year.  If  they  do  not  ride  even  more  than  they 
do,  it  is  because  we  have  not  these  thousands  of  de- 
lightful and  cheap  carriages  and  sledges.  And  how 
are  people  to  get  about,  how  are  burdens  to  be  car- 
ried, how  is  the  day  long  enough,  if  one  goes  every- 
where on  foot  ?  Are  the  horses  to  be  left  to  people 
the  earth,  along  with  the  animals  which  we  now  eat 
and  which  we  must  give  up  eating  ?  " 

"  That  will  regulate  itself.  It  is  only  those  who 
have  nothing  to  do  who  have  no  time  to  do  it  in,  and 
must  be  carried,  in  all  haste,  from  place  to  place. 
Busy  people  always  have  time  for  everything."  And 
the  count  proceeded  to  develop  this  argument.  The 
foundation,  of  course,  was  the  same  as  for  his  other 


A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW.  143 

doctrines,  —  the  dependence  on  one's  self,  freeing 
others  from  bondage  to  his  wants  and  whims.  The 
principle  is  excellent ;  but  it  would  be  easier  for  most 
of  us  to  resist  the  temptation  to  do  otherwise  on  a 
desert  island,  than  to  lead  such  a  Robinson  Crusoe 
and  physical  encyclopedic  existence  in  a  city  of  to- 
day. This  is  almost  the  only  argument  which  I  felt 
capable  of  offering  in  opposition. 

Thus  we  discussed,  as  we  walked  along  the  streets 
of  China  Town.  When  the  sidewalk  was  narrow,  the 
count  took  to  the  gutter.  And  so  we  came  to  the 
old  wall  and  the  place  where  there  is  a  perennial 
market,  which  bears  various  names,  —  the  Pushing 
Market,  the  Louse  Market,  and  so  on,  —  and  which 
is  said  to  be  the  resort  of  thieves  and  receivers  of 
stolen  goods.  Strangers  always  hit  upon  it  the  first 
thing.  We  had  ventured  into  its  borders  alone,  had 
chatted  with  a  cobbler,  inspected  the  complete  work- 
shop on  the  sidewalk,  priced  the  work,  —  "  real,  ar- 
tistic, high-priced  jobs  were  worth  thirty  to  forty 
kopeks,"  —  had  promised  to  fetch  our  boots  to  be 
repaired  with  tacks  and  whipcord,  — "  when  they 
needed  it,"  —  and  had  received  an  unblushing  appeal 
for  a  bottle  of  vtidka  in  which  to  drink  the  health 
of  ourselves  and  the  cobblers.  With  true  feminine 
faith  in  the  efficacy  of  a  man's  presence,  we  now  en- 
joyed the  prospect  of  going  through  the  middle  of  it, 
for  its  entire  length.  I  related  the  cobbler  episode 
to  explain  why  I  did  not  give  the  count  a  job,  and 
the  count  seemed  to  find  no  little  difficulty  in  not 
laughing  outright. 

Imagine  a  very  broad  street,  extending  for  several 
blocks,  flanked  on  one  side  by  respectable  buildings, 
on  the  other  by  the  old,  battlemented  city  wall, 


144  A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW. 

crowned  with  straggling  bushes,  into  which  are  builfc 
tiny  houses  with  a  frontage  of  two  or  three  windows, 
and  the  two  stories  so  low  that  one  fancies  that  lie 
could  easily  touch  their  roofs.  These  last  are  the 
real  old  Moscow  merchant  houses  of  two  or  three 
hundred  years  ago.  They  still  serve  as  shops  and 
residences,  the  lower  floor  being  crammed  with  cheap 
goods  and  old  clothes  of  wondrous  hues  and  patterns, 
which  overflow  upon  the  very  curbstone.  The  signs 
of  the  fur  stores,  with  their  odd  pictures  of  peasant 
coats  and  fashionable  mantles,  add  an  advertisement 
of  black  sheepskins  which  precisely  resemble  rudely 
painted  turtles.  In  the  broad,  place-like  street  surged 
a  motley,  but  silent  and  respectful  crowd.  A  Rus- 
sian crowd  always  is  a  marvel  of  quietness,  —  as  far 
down  as  the  elbows,  no  farther !  Along  the  middle 
of  the  place  stood  rows  of  rough  tables,  boxes,  and 
all  sorts  of  receptacles,  containing  every  variety  of 
bread  and  indescribable  meats  and  sausages.  Men 
strolled  about  with  huge  brass  teapots  of  sbiten  (a 
drink  of  honey,  laurel  leaves,  spices,  etc.),  steaming 
hot.  Men  with  trays  suspended  by  straps  from  their 
necks  offered  "  delicious  "  snacks,  meat  patties  kept 
hot  in  hot-water  boxes,  served  in  a  gaudy  saucer  and 
flooded  with  hot  bouillon  from  a  brass  flask  attached 
to  their  girdles  behind  ;  or  sandwiches  made  from  a 
roll,  split,  buttered,  and  clapped  upon  a  slice  of  very 
red,  raw-looking  sausage,  fresh  from  the  water-box. 
But  we  did  not  feel  hungry  just  then,  or  thirsty. 

"  There  are  but  two  genuine  Russian  titles,"  said 
the  count,  as  we  walked  among  the  merchants,  where 
the  women  were  dressed  like  the  men  in  sheepskin 
coats,  and  distinguished  only  by  a  brief  scrap  of 
gay  petticoat,  and  a  gay  kerchief  instead  of  a  cap  on 


A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW.  145 

the  head,  while  some  of  the  dealers  in  clothing  in- 
dulged in  overcoats  and  flat  caps  with  visors,  of  dark 
blue  cloth.  "  Now,  if  I  address  one  of  these  men, 
he  will  call  me  bdtiushka,  and  he  will  call  you  ma- 
tushka."  1 

We  began  to  price  shoes,  new  and  old,  and  so  forth, 
with  the  result  which  the  count  had  predicted. 

"  You  can  get  very  good  clothing  here,"  the  count 
remarked,  as  a  man  passed  us,  his  arm  passed  through 
the  armholes  of  a  pile  of  new  vests.  "  These  mit- 
tens," exhibiting  the  coarse,  white-fingered  mittens 
which  he  wore,  piles  of  the  same  and  stockings  to 
match  being  beside  us,  "  are  very  stout  and  warm. 
They  cost  only  thirty  kopeks.  And  the  other  day, 
I  bought  a  capital  shirt  here,  for  a  man,  at  fifty 
kopeks"  (about  twenty-five  cents). 

I  magnanimously  refrained  from  applying  to  that 
shirt  the  argument  which  had  been  used  against  my 
suggestion  in  regard  to  giving  bread.  This  market 
goes  on  every  day  in  the  year,  hot  or  cold,  rain,  sun, 
or  shine.  It  is  a  model  of  neatness.  Roofs  impro- 
vised from  scraps  of  canvas  protect  the  delicate  (?) 
eatables  during  inclement  weather.  In  very  severe 
weather  the  throng  is  smaller,  the  first  to  beat  a 
retreat  being,  apparently,  the  Tatars  In  their  odd 
kaftans  "  cut  goring,"  as  old  women  say,  who  deal  in 
old  clothes,  lambskins,  and  "beggars'  lace."  Other- 
wise, it  is  always  the  same. 

Our  publisher's  shop  proved  to  be  closed,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  law,  which  permits  trading  —  in  build- 
ings —  only  between  twelve  and  three  o'clock  on 
Sundays.  On  our  way  home  the  count  expressed 

1  A  respectfully  affectionate  diminutive,  equivalent  to  dear  little 
father,  dear  little  mother. 


146  A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW. 

his  regret  at  the  rapid  decline  of  the  republican 
idea  in  America,  and  the  surprising  growth  of  the 
baneful  "  aristocratic  "  —  not  to  say  snobbish  — 
sense.  His  deductions  were  drawn  from  articles  in 
various  recent  periodical  publications,  and  from  the 
general  tone  of  the  American  works  which  had  come 
under  his  observation.  I  have  heard  a  good  deal 
from  other  Russians  about  the  snobbishness  of  Amer- 
icans ;  but  they  generally  speak  of  it  with  aversion, 
not,  as  did  Count  Tolstdy,  with  regret  at  a  splendid 
opportunity  missed  by  a  whole  nation. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  we  never  got  our  expedi- 
tion to  the  Old  Believers'  Church,  or  the  others  that 
were  planned.  Two  days  later,  the  count  was  taken 
with  an  attack  of  liver  complaint,  dyspepsia,  - 
caused,  I  am  sure,  by  too  much  pedestrian  exercise 
on  a  vegetable  diet,  which  does  not  agree  with  him, 
—  and  a  bad  cold.  We  attended  Christmas  Eve  ser- 
vice in  the  magnificent  new  Cathedral  of  the  Saviour, 
and  left  Moscow  before  the  count  was  able  to  go  out- 
of-doors  again,  though  not  without  seeing  him  once 
more. 

I  am  aware  that  it  has  become  customary  of  late 
to  call  Count  Tolst6y  "crazy,"  or  "not  quite  right  in 
the  head,"  etc.  The  inevitable  conclusion  of  any  one 
who  talks  much  with  him  is  that  he  is  nothing  of 
the  sort ;  but  simply  a  man  with  a  hobby,  or  an  idea. 
His  idea  happens  to  be  one  which,  granting  that  it 
ought  to  be  adopted  by  everybody,  is  still  one  which 
is  very  difficult  of  adoption  by  anybody,  —  pecul- 
iarly difficult  in  his  own  case.  And  it  is  an  uncom- 
fortable theory  of  self-denial  which  very  few  people 
like  to  have  preached  to  them  in  any  form.  Add  to 
this  that  his  philosophical  expositions  of  his  theory 


A   STROLL  IN  MOSCOW.  147 

Jack  the  clearness  which  generally  —  not  always  — 
results  from  a  course  of  strict  preparatory  training, 
ami  we  have  more  than  sufficient  foundation  for  the 
reports  of  his  mental  aberration.  On  personal  ac- 
quaintance he  proves  to  be  a  remarkably  earnest, 
thoroughly  convinced,  and  winning  man,  although  he 
does  not  deliberately  do  or  say  anything  to  attract 
one.  His  very  earnestness  is  provocative  of  argu- 
ment.1 

1  From  The  Independent. 


VIII. 

COUNT  TOLST(5Y   AT   HOME. 

ON  one  winter's  day  in  Moscow,  the  Countess  Tol- 
st6y  said  to  us :  "  You  musfc  come  and  visit  us  at 
Ydsnaya  Poly&na  next  summer.  You  should  see  Rus- 
sian country  life,  and  you  will  see  it  with  us.  Our 
house  is  not  elegant,  but  you  will  find  it  plain,  clean, 
and  comfortable." 

Such  an  invitation  was  not  to  be  resisted.  When 
summer  came,  the  family  wrote  to  say  that  they 
would  meet  us  at  the  nearest  station,  where  no  car- 
riages were  to  be  had  by  casual  travelers,  if  we  would 
notify  them  of  our  arrival.  But  the  weather  had 
been  too  bad  for  country  visits,  and  we  were  afraid 
to  give  Fate  a  hint  of  our  intentions  by  announcing 
our  movements  ;  moreover,  all  the  trains  seemed  to 
reach  that  station  at  a  very  late  hour  of  the  night. 
We  decided  to  make  our  appearance  f  rom  another 
quarter,  in  our  own  conveyance,  on  a  fair  day,  and 
long  before  any  meal.  If  it  should  prove  inconven- 
ient for  the  family  to  receive  us,  they  would  not  be 
occasioned  even  momentary  awkwardness,  and  our 
retreat  would  be  secured.  We  had  seen  enough  of 
the  charmingly  easy  Russian  hospitality  to  feel  sure 
of  our  ground  otherwise. 

Accordingly,  we  set  out  for  Tula  on  a  June  day 
that  was  dazzling  with  sunshine  and  heat,  after  the 
autumnal  chill  of  the  recent  rains.  As  we  progressed 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  149 

southward  from  Moscow  the  country  was  more  varied 
than  north  of  it,  with  ever-changing  vistas  of  gently 
sloping  hills  and  verdant  valleys,  well  cultivated, 
and  dotted  with  thatched  cottages  which  stood  flat- 
ter on  the  ground  here  than  where  wood  is  more 
plentiful. 

The  train  was  besieged  at  every  station,  during 
the  long  halts  customary  on  Russian  railways,  by 
hordes  of  peasant  children  with  bottles  of  rich  cream 
and  dishes  of  fragrant  wild  strawberries.  The  straw- 
berries cost  from  three  to  four  cents  a  pound,  —  not 
enough  to  pay  for  picking,  —  and  the  cream  from 
three  to  five  cents  a  bottle. 

Halfway  to  Tula  the  train  crosses  the  river  Ok&, 
which  makes  so  fine  a  show  when  it  enters  the  Volga 
at  Nizhni  Novgorod,  and  which  even  here  is  impos- 
ing in  breadth  and  busy  with  steamers.  It  was  not 
far  from  here  that  an  acquaintance  of  mine  one  day 
overtook  a  wayfarer.  He  was  weather-beaten  and 
travel-stained,  dressed  like  a  peasant,  and  carried  his 
boots  slung  over  his  shoulder.  But  there  was  some- 
thing about  him  which,  to  her  woman's  eye,  seemed 
out  of  keeping  with  his  garb.  She  invited  him  to  take 
advantage  of  her  carriage.  He  accepted  gladly,  and 
conversed  agreeably.  It  appeared  that  it  was  Count 
Tulst6y  making  the  journey  between  his  estate  and 
Moscow.  His  utterances  produced  such  an  effect 
upon  her  young  son  that  the  lad  insisted  upon  mak- 
ing his  next  journey  on  foot  also. 

We  reached  Tula  late  in  the  evening.  The  guide- 
book says,  in  that  amusing  German  fashion  on  which 
a  chapter  might  be  written,  that  "  the  town  lies  fif- 
teen minutes  distant  from  the  station."  Ordinarily, 
that  would  mean  twice  or  thrice  fifteen  minutes. 


150  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

But  we  had  a  touch  of  our  usual  luck  in  an  eccentric 
cabman.  Vanka  —  that  is,  Johnny  —  set  out  almost 
before  we  had  taken  our  seats ;  we  clutched  his  belt 
for  support,  and  away  we  flew  through  the  inky 
darkness  and  fathomless  dust,  outstripping  every- 
thing on  the  road.  We  came  to  a  bridge  ;  one  wheel 
skimmed  along  high  on  the  side  rail,  the  loose  boards 
rattled  ominously  beneath  the  other.  There  are  no 
regulations  for  slow  driving  on  Russian  bridges  be- 
yond those  contained  in  admonitory  proverbs  and 
popular  legends.  One's  eyes  usually  supply  sufficient 
warning  by  day.  But  V&nka  was  wedded  to  the 
true  Russian  principle,  and  proceeded  in  his  head- 
long course  na  av6s  (on  chance).  In  vain  I  cried, 
"  This  is  not  an  obstacle  race  !  "  He  replied  cheer- 
fully, "  It  is  the  horse  !  " 

We  were  forced  to  conclude  that  we  had  stumbled 
upon  the  hero  of  Count  Tolstoy's  story,  Kh61stomir, 
in  that  gaunt  old  horse,  racing  thus  by  inspiration, 
and  looking  not  unlike  the  portrait  of  Kholstomir  in 
his  sad  old  age,  from  the  hand  of  the  finest  animal- 
painter  in  Russia,  which,  with  its  companion  piece, 
Kholstomir  in  his  proud  youth,  hangs  on  the  wall  in 
the  count's  Moscow  house. 

Our  mad  career  ended  at  what  Vanka  declared  to 
be  the  best  hotel ;  the  one  recommended  by  the  guide- 
book had  been  closed  for  years,  he  said.  I,  who  had 
not  found  the  guide-book  infallible,  believed  him, 
until  he  landed  us  at  one  which  looked  well  enough, 
but  whose  chief  furnishing  was  smells  of  such  po- 
tency that  I  fled,  handkerchief  clapped  to  nose,  while 
the  limp  waiter,  with  his  jaw  bound  up  like  a  figure 
from  a  German  picture-book,  called  after  me  that 
"  perhaps  the  drains  were  a  little  out  of  order." 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  151 

Thrifty  Vdnka,  in  hopes  of  a  commission,  or  bent 
upon  paying  off  a  grudge,  still  obstinately  refused  to 
take  us  to  the  hotel  recommended ;  but  a  hint  of 
application  to  the  police  decided  him  to  deposit  us 
at  another  door.  This  proved  to  be  really  the 
best  house  in  town,  though  it  does  not  grace  the 
printed  list.  It  was  on  the  usual  plan  of  inns  in 
Russian  country  towns.  There  was  the  large,  airy 
dining-room,  with  clean  lace  curtains,  polished  floor, 
and  table  set  with  foliage  plants  in  fancy  pots ; 
the  bedrooms,  with  single  iron  beds,  reservoir  wash- 
stands,  and  no  bed  linen  or  towels  without  extra 
charge. 

The  next  morning  we  devoted  to  the  few  sights  of 
the  town.  The  Kremlin,  on  flat  ground  and  not  of 
imposing  size,  makes  very  little  impression  after  the 
Moscow  Kremlin ;  but  its  churches  exhibit  some 
charming  new  fancies  in  onion-shaped  cupolas  which 
we  had  not  noticed  elsewhere,  and  its  cathedral  con- 
tains frescoes  of  a  novel  sort.  In  subject  they  are 
pretty  equally  divided  between  the  Song  of  Solomon 
and  the  (Ecumenical  Councils,  with  a  certain  num- 
ber of  saints,  of  course,  though  these  are  fewer  than 
usual.  The  artist  was  evidently  a  man  who  en- 
joyed rich  stuffs  of  flowered  patterns,  and  beautiful 
women. 

The  Imperial  Firearms  Factory  we  did  not  see. 
We  had  omitted  to  obtain  from  the  Minister  of  War 
that  permission  without  which  no  foreigner  of  either 
sex  can  enter,  though  Russians  may  do  so  freely,  and 
we  did  not  care  enough  about  it  to  await  the  reply  to 
a  telegram.  We  contented  ourselves  with  assuring 
the  officer  in  charge  that  we  were  utter  simpletons  in 
the  matter  of  firearms,  afraid  of  guns  even  when 


152  COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

they  were  not  loaded,  —  I  presume  he  did  not  under- 
stand that  allusion,  — and  that  it  was  pure  curiosity 
of  travelers  which  had  led  us  to  invade  his  office. 

However,  there  was  no  dearth  of  shops  where  we 
could  inspect  all  the  wares  in  metal  for  which  this 
Russian  Birmingham  has  been  celebrated  ever  since 
the  industry  was  founded  by  men  from  Plolland,  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  In  the  matter  of  samovars, 
especially,  there  is  a  wide  range  of  choice  in  this 
cradle  of  "the  portable  domestic  hearth,"  although 
there  are  only  two  or  three  among  the  myriad  manu- 
facturers whose  goods  are  famed  for  that  solidity  of 
brass  and  tin  which  insures  against  dents,  fractures, 
and  poisoning. 

During  the  morning  we  ordered  round  a  trti'ika 
from  the  posting-house.  It  did  not  arrive.  Proba- 
bly it  was  asleep,  like  most  other  things  on  that 
warm  day.  It  was  too  far  off  to  invite  investiga- 
tion, and  sallying  forth  after  breakfast  to  hire  an 
izvtistchik,  I  became  a  blessed  windfall  to  a  couple 
of  bored  policemen,  who  waked  up  a  cabman  for 
me  and  took  a  kindly  interest  in  the  inevitable  bar- 
gaining which  ensued.  While  this  was  in  progress, 
up  came  two  dusty  and  tattered  "pilgrims,"  • —"re- 
ligious tramps  "  will  designate  their  character  with 
perfect  accuracy, —  who  were  sufficiently  wide  awake 
to  beg.  I  positively  had  not  a  kopek  in  change ;  but 
not  even  a  Russian  beggar  would  believe  that.  I 
parried  the  attack. 

"  I  'm  not  an  Orthodox  Christian,  my  good  men. 
I  am  sure  that  you  do  not  want  money  from  a 
heretic." 

"Never  mind;  I'm  a  bachelor,"  replied  one  of 
them  bravely  and  consolingly. 


COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  153 

When  we  had  all  somewhat  recovered  from  this, 
the  policemen,  catching  the  spirit  of  the  occasion, 
explained  to  the  men  that  I  and  my  money  were 
extremely  dangerous  to  the  Orthodox,  both  families 
and  bachelors,  especially  to  pious  pilgrims  to  the 
shrines,  such  as  they  were,  and  they  gently  but 
firmly  compelled  the  men  to  move  on,  despite  their 
vehement  protestations  that  they  were  willing  to  run 
the  risk  and  accept  the  largest  sort  of  change  from  the 
heretic.  But  I  was  obdurate.  I  knew  from  experi- 
ence that  for  five  kopeks,  or  less,  I  should  receive 
thanks,  reverences  to  the  waist  or  even  to  the  ground  ; 
but  that  the  gift  of  more  than  five  kopeks  would  re- 
sult in  a  thankless,  suspicious  stare,  which  would 
make  me  feel  guilty  of  some  enormous  undefined 
crime.  This  was  Count  Tolst6y's  experience  also. 
We  devoted  ourselves  to  cabby  once  more. 

Such  a  winning  fellow  as  that  Vanka  was,  from 
the  very  start !  After  I  had  concluded  the  bargain 
for  an  extra  horse  and  an  apron  which  his  carriage 
lacked,  he  persuaded  me  that  one  horse  was  enough 
—  at  the  price  of  two.  To  save  time  I  yielded,  de- 
ducting twenty-five  cents  only  from  the  sum  agreed 
on,  lest  I  should  appear  too  easily  cheated.  That 
sense  of  being  ridiculed  as  an  inexperienced  simple- 
ton, when  I  had  merely  paid  my  interlocutor  the 
compliment  of  trusting  him,  never  ceased  to  be  a 
pain  and  a  terror  to  me. 

The  friendly  policemen  smiled  impartially  upon 
Vanka  and  us,  as  they  helped  to  pack  us  in  the 
drosky. 

Tula  as  we  saw  it  on  our  way  out,  and  as  we  had 
seen  it  during  our  morning  stroll,  did  not  look  like  a 
town  of  sixty-four  thousand  inhabitants,  or  an  inter- 


154  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

esting  place  of  residence.  It  was  a  good  type  of 
the  provincial  Russian  town.  There  were  the  broad 
unpaved,  or  badly  paved,  dusty  streets.  There  were 
the  stone  official  buildings,  glaring  white  in  the  sun, 
interspersed  with  wooden  houses,  ranging  from  the 
pretentious  dwelling  to  the  humble  shelter  of  logs. 

For  fifteen  versts  (ten  miles)  after  we  had  left  all 
these  behind  us,  we  drove  through  a  lovely  rolling 
country,  on  a  fine  macadamized  highway  leading  to 
the  south  and  to  KiefL  The  views  were  wide,  fresh, 
and  fair.  Hayfields,  plowed  fields,  fields  of  green 
oats,  yellowing  rye,  blue-flowered  flax,  with  birch 
and  leaf  trees  in  small  groves  near  at  hand,  and  for- 
ests in  the  distance,  varied  the  scene.  Evergreens 
were  rarer  here,  and  oak-trees  more  plentiful,  than 
north  of  Moscow.  The  grass  by  the  roadside  was 
sown  thickly  with  wild  flowers:  Canterbury  bells, 
campanulas,  yarrow  pink  and  white,  willow -weed 
(good  to  adulterate  tea),  yellow  daisies,  spiraea,  pinks, 
corn-flowers,  melilot,  honey -sweet  galium,  yellow 
everlasting,  huge  deep-crimson  crane's-bill,  and  hosts 
of  others. 

Throughout  this  sweet  drive  my  merry  izvtistchik 
delighted  me  with  his  discourse.  It  began  thus.  I 
asked,  "  Did  he  know  Count  Tolstoy  ?  " 

"  Did  he  know  Count  Tolstoy  ?  Everybody  knew 
him.  He  was  the  first  gentleman  in  the  empire  [!]. 
There  was  not  another  such  man  in  all  the  land." 

"  Could  he  read  ?  Had  he  read  the  count's 
'Tales'?" 

"  Yes.  He  had  read  every  one  of  the  count's  books 
that  he  could  lay  his  hands  on.  Did  I  mean  the 
little  books  with  the  colored  covers  and  the  pictures 
on  the  outside  ?  "  (He  alluded  to  the  little  peasant 


COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  155 

"  Tales  "  in  their  original  cheap  form,  costing  two  or 
three  cents  apiece.)  "  Unfortunately  they  were  for- 
bidden, or  not  to  be  had  at  the  Tula  shops,  and 
though  there  were  libraries  which  had  them,  they 
were  not  for  such  as  he."  l 

u  How  had  they  affected  him  ?  Why,  he  had 
learned  to  love  all  the  world  better.  He  knew  that 
it'  he  had  a  bit  of  bread  he  must  share  it  with  his 
neighbor,  even  if  he  did  find  it  hard  work  to  support 
his  wife  and  four  small  children.  Had  such  a  need 
arisen  ?  Yes  ;  and  he  had  given  his  children's  bread 
to  others."  (He  pretended  not  to  hear  when  I  in- 
quired why  he  had  not  given  his  own  share  of  the 
bread.)  "  Was  he  a  more  honest  man  than  before  ? 
Oh,  yes,  yes,  indeed  !  He  would  not  take  a  kopek 
from  any  one  unless  he  were  justly  entitled  to  it." 

"And  Count  Tolstoy!  A  fine  man,  that!  The 
Emperor  had  conferred  upon  him  the  right  to  release 
prisoners  from  the  jail,  —  had  I  noticed  the  big  jail, 
on  the  left  hand  as  we  drove  out  of  town  ?"  (I  took 
the  liberty  to  doubt  this  legend,  in  strict  privacy.) 
u  Tula  was  a  very  bad  place  ;  there  were  many  pris- 

1  At  this  time,  in  Moscow,  the  sidewalk  bookstalls,  such  as  this 
man  would  have  been  likely  to  patronize,  could  not  furuish  a  full  set 
of  the  Tales  in  the  cheap  form.  The  venders  said  that  they  were 
"forbidden  ;"  but  since  they  openly  displayed  and  sold  such  as  they 
had,  and  since  any  number  of  complete  sets  could  be  obtained  at  the 
publishers'  hard  by,  the  prohibition  evidently  extended  only  to  the 
issue  of  a  fresh  edition.  Meanwhile,  the  Tales  complete  in  one  vol- 
ume were  not  forbidden.  This  volume,  one  of  the  set  of  the  author's 
works  published  by  his  wife,  cost  fifty  kopeks  (about  twenty-five  cents), 
not  materially  more  than  the  other  sort.  As  there  was  a  profit  to  the 
family  on  this  edition,  and  none  on  the  cheap  edition,  the  withdrawal 
of  the  latter  may  have  been  merely  a  private  business  arrangement, 
to  be  expected  under  the  circumstances,  and  the  cry  of  "  prohibi- 
tion "  may  have  been  employed  as  a  satisfactory  and  unanswerable 
tradesman's  excuse  for  not  being  supplied  with  the  goods  desired. 


156  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

oners.  Men  went  to  the  bad  there  from  the  lack  of 
something  to  do."  (This  man  was  a  philosopher,  it 
seemed.) 

So  he  ran  on  enthusiastically,  twisting  round  in  his 
seat,  letting  his  horse  do  as  it  would,  and  talking  in 
that  soft,  gentle,  charming  way  to  which  a  dozen  ad- 
jectives would  fail  to  do  justice,  and  which  appears  to 
be  the  heritage  of  almost  every  Russian,  high  or  low. 
It  was  an  uncomfortable  attitude  for  us,  because  it  left 
us  nowhere  to  put  our  smiles,  and  we  would  not  for 
the  world  have  had  him  suspect  that  he  amused  us. 

But  the  gem  of  his  discourse  dropped  from  his  lips 
when  I  asked  him  what,  in  his  opinion,  would  be  the 
result  if  Count  Tolst<5y  could  reconstruct  the  world 
on  his  plan. 

"  Why,  naturally,"  he  replied,  "  if  all  men  were 
equal,  I  should  not  be  driving  you,  for  example.  I 
should  have  my  own  horse  and  cow  and  property,  and 
I  should  do  no  work  !  " 

I  must  say  that,  on  reflection,  I  was  not  surprised 
that  he  should  have  reached  this  rather  astonishing 
conclusion.  I  have  no  doubt  that  all  of  his  kind — 
and  it  is  not  a  stupid  kind,  by  any  means  —  think 
the  same.  I  tried  to  tell  him  about  America,  where 
we  were  all  equals  in  theory  (I  omitted  "  theory  "), 
and  yet  where  some  of  us  still  "  drive  other  people," 
figuratively  speaking.  But  he  only  laughed  and 
shook  his  head,  and  said  he  did  not  believe  that  all 
men  were  equal  in  such  a  land  any  more  than  they 
were  in  Russia.  That  was  the  sort  of  wall  against 
which  I  was  always  being  brought  up,  with  a  more 
or  less  painful  bump,  when  I  attempted  to  elucidate 
the  institutions  of  this  land  of  liberty.  He  seemed 
to  have  it  firmly  fixed  in  his  brain  that,  although 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  157 

Count  Tolst6y  worked  in  the  fields  "  like  one  of  us 
poor  brethren,"  he  really  did  no  work  whatever. 

Thus  did  I  obtain  a  foretaste  of  the  views  held  by 
the  peasant  class  upon  the  subject  of  Count  Tolst6y's 
scheme  of  reformation,  since  this  man  was  a  peasant 
himself  from  one  of  the  neighboring  villages,  and  an 
average  representative  of  their  modes  of  thought. 

At  last  we  reached  the  stone  gateposts  which  mark 
the  entrance  to  the  park  of  Y&snaya  Polyana  (Clear- 
field),  and  drove  up  the  formerly  splendid  and  still 
beautiful  avenue  of  huge  white  birch-trees,  from 
whose  ranks  many  had  fallen  or  been  felled.  The 
avenue  terminated  near  the  house  in  hedges  of  lilacs 
and  acacias. 

Most  of  the  family  were  away  in  the  fields,  or  bath- 
ing in  the  river.  But  we  were  cordially  received, 
assured  that  our  visit  was  well  timed  and  that  there 
were  no  guests,  and  were  installed  in  the  room  of 
the  count's  eldest  son,  who  was  at  his  business  in  St. 
Petersburg. 

Then  I  paid  and  dismissed  the  beaming  Vanka, 
whose  name  chanced  to  be  Alexei,  adding  liberal 
"  tea-money  "  for  his  charming  manners  and  conver- 
sation. My  sympathy  with  the  hardship  of  being 
unable  to  procure  books  had  moved  me  so  deeply  that 
I  had  already  asked  the  man  for  his  address,  and  had" 
promised  to  send  him  a  complete  set  of  the  count's 
'•  Tales  "  from  Moscow. 

We  parted  with  the  highest  opinion  of  each  other. 
Alas  !  a  day  or  two  later  one  of  the  count's  daugh- 
ters happened  to  inquire  how  much  I  had  paid  for 
the  carriage,  probably  in  consequence  of  former  ex- 
periences, and  informed  me  that  I  had  given  just 
twice  as  much  as  any  cabman  in  Tula  would  have 


158  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

been  glad  to  take.  (The  boredom  of  those  police- 
men must  have  been  relieved  by  another  smile —  be- 
hind our  backs.)  Then  I  repeated  my  conversation 
with  that  delicately  conscientious  izv6%tchik,  nurtured 
on  the  "  Tales,"  and  mentioned  my  promise.  Even 
the  grave  count  was  forced  to  laugh,  and  I  declared 
that  I  should  be  afraid  to  send  the  set  of  books, 
for  fear  of  the  consequences. 

When  we  were  ready,  being  unfamiliar  with  the 
house,  we  asked  the  maid  to  conduct  us  to  the  count- 
ess. She  took  this  in  its  literal  sense,  and  ushered 
us  into  the  bedroom  where  the  countess  was  dressing, 
an  introduction  to  country  life  which  was  certainly 
informal  enough. 

We  dined  at  a  long  table  under  the  trees  at  a  little 
distance  from  the  house.  The  breeze  sifted  the  tiny 
papery  birch  seeds  into  our  soup  and  water.  Clouds 
rolled  up,  and  at  every  threat  of  the  sky  we  grasped 
our  plates,  prepared  to  make  a  dash  for  the  house. 

The  count,  who  had  been  mowing,  appeared  at  din- 
ner in  a  grayish  blouse  and  trousers,  and  a  soft  white 
linen  cap.  He  looked  even  more  weather-beaten  in 
complexion  than  he  had  in  Moscow  during  the  win- 
ter, if  that  were  possible.  His  broad  shoulders 
seemed  to  preserve  in  their  enhanced  stoop  a  memory 
t)f  recent  toil.  His  manner,  a  combination  of  gentle 
simplicity,  awkward  half-conquered  consciousness,  and 
half-discarded  polish,  was  as  cordial  as  ever.  His 
piercing  gray-green-blue  eyes  had  lost  none  of  their 
almost  saturnine  and  withal  melancholy  expression. 
His  sons  were  clad  in  the  pretty  blouse  suits  of  coarse 
gray  linen  which  are  so  common  in  Russia  in  the 
summer,  and  white  linen  caps. 

After  dinner,  on  that  first  evening,  the  countess 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  159 

invited  us  to  go  to  the  fields  and  see  her  husband  at 
work.  He  had  not  observed  the  good  old  recipe, 
"After  dinner,  rest  awhile,"  but  had  set  off  again 
immediately,  and  we  had  been  eager  to  follow  him. 
We  hunted  for  him  through  several  meadows,  and 
finally  came  upon  him  in  a  sloping  orchard  lot,  seated 
under  the  trees,  in  a  violent  perspiration.  He  had 
wasted  no  time,  evidently.  He  was  resting,  and  chat- 
ting with  half  a  dozen  peasants  of  assorted  ages.  It 
appeared  that  he  had  made  a  toilet  for  dinner,  since 
he  now  wore  a  blue  blouse  faded  with  frequent  wash- 
ing, and  ornamented  with  new  dark  blue  patches  on 
the  shoulders.  It  was  the  same  blouse  with  which 
Re  pin's  portrait  of  him  engaged  in  plowing  had  al- 
ready made  us  familiar. 

We  talked  with  the  peasants.  They  remained 
seated,  and  gave  no  greeting.  I  do  not  think  they 
would  have  done  so  on  any  other  estate  in  Russia.  It 
is  not  that  the  count  has  inspired  his  humble  neigh- 
bors with  a  higher  personal  sense  of  independence 
and  the  equality  of  man  ;  all  Russian  peasants  are 
pretty  well  advanced  along  that  path  already,  and 
they  possess  a  natural  dignity  which  prevents  their 
asserting  themselves  in  an  unpleasant  manner  except 
in  rare  cases.  When  they  rise  or  salute,  it  is  out  of 
politeness,  and  with  no  more  servility  than  the  same 
act  implies  in  an  officer  of  the  Guards  in  presence  of 
a  Court  dame.  The  omission  on  this  occasion  inter- 
ested me  as  significant. 

The  conversation  turned  upon  the  marriage  of  one 
of  the  younger  men,  which  was  to  come  off  in  a  neigh- 
boring village  two  days  later,  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
fast  of  Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul.  A  middle-aged 
peasant  took  up  the  subject  in  a  rather  unpleasant  and 


160  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

not  very  respectful  manner,  saying  that  he  saw  no  use 
for  priests,  who  had  everything  provided  for  them  (no, 
gatdvayu  rtiku),  and  charged  so  high  for  baptizing 
and  marrying. 

"  They  demand  seven  rubles  for  marrying  this 
fellow,"  said  he.  "  I  '11  do  it  for  a  ruble,  and  be 
glad  to." 

"  If  it  is  so  easy,  go  pass  your  examinations  and 
become  a  priest  at  once,"  replied  the  countess. 

"  I  don't  know  enough  for  that." 

"  Then  go  hire  yourself  out  as  a  clown.  You  are 
always  making  bad  jokes." 

The  man  was  subdued.  The  count  took  no  part 
in  this  conversation,  and  looked  somewhat  disturbed 
when  the  other  men  joined  disagreeably  in  the  laugh 
against  their  comrade.  He  turned  the  subject. 

"  Look  at  the  oldest  of  these  men,"  he  said  to  us 
in  English.  "  He  has  lost  the  first  joint  of  all  the 
fingers  on  one  hand  from  frost." 

He  was  a  weak-looking,  withered  little  man,  but 
when  they  began  to  mow  again,  at  the  count's  sug- 
gestion, he  grasped  his  scythe  as  well  as  any  of  them. 
The  scythes  were  short,  thick,  straight,  looked  very 
heavy,  and  were  set  on  very  long,  straight  handles, 
so  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  stoop  in  mowing. 

We  watched  the  party  for  a  while.  The  count 
made  good  progress  over  the  uneven  ground  and  thin 
grass,  as  though  he  were  used  to  the  work  which  he 
has  described  so  inimitably  in  "  Anna  Karenin." 
(Another  reminder  of  this  book  is  the  old  nurse  of 
Levin,  who  still  lives  on  the  place,  has  charge  of  the 
dogs  because  she  is  fond  of  animals,  and  carries  her 
mania  to  the  extent  of  feeding  and  petting  the  black 
beetles.  The  grave  of  Karl  Ivanovitch,  the  tutor  in 


COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  161 

"  Childhood,  Boyhood,  Youth,"  which  lies  in  the 
cemetery  a  mile  or  two  distant,  is  another  memento  of 
his  writings.)  As  we  strolled  back  to  the  house,  we 
paused  to  look  at  the  long  white  stables,  the  thatched 
granary  with  walls  of  wattled  tree  boughs,  and  other 
farm  buildings.  In  the  space  between  the  house  and 
the  dining-table  we  found  the  children,  with  their 
cousins,  the  French  tutor,  and  the  English  governess, 
engaged  in  a  game  of  ball  called  wdpta^  which  in- 
volves much  running  and  some  skill. 

To  this  table  the  samovar  was  brought  about  half 
past  seven,  and  the  early  tea,  the  children's  tea,  was 
served  at  twilight  in  the  open  air  heavy  with  the 
perfume  of  the  linden-trees.  Late  tea  was  always 
served  in  the  house,  in  the  large  hall,  accompanied  by 
various  viands,  and  by  wild  strawberries  fetched  by 
the  peasant  children. 

That  evening  the  count  talked  to  me  chiefly  about 
the  pamphlets  on  the  Hopedale  community  and  the 
peace  doctrines  advocated  by  Adin  Ballon,  which  had 
been  sent  to  him  shortly  before  from  America.  He 
had  then  learned  for  the  first  time  that  his  princi- 
ples in  that  direction  had  been  anticipated,  and  he 
seemed  to  be  genuinely  gratified  to  know  that  this  was 
the  case.  He  prophesied  that  this  movement  in  favor 
of  non-resistance  would  attract  much  more  attention  in 
the  future  than  it  has  attracted  in  the  past.  The  fate 
of  Mr.  Ballon 's  community  did  not  seem  to  shake  his 
faith. 

Naturally,  the  house  was  the  first  point  which  en- 
gaged our  attention.  In  1860,  Count  Tolstoy,  being 
then  thirty-two  years  of  age,  made  up  his  mind  unal- 
terably that  he  would  never  marry.  All  the  world 
knows  that  when  the  count  has  irrevocably  deter- 


162  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

mined  upon  anything  be  immediately  furnishes  sub- 
stantial proof  of  his  convictions.  On  this  occasion 
his  demonstration  took  the  form  of  selling  the  manor 
house,  which  was  taken  down  and  set  up  again  on 
another  estate  in  the  same  government  by  the  pur- 
chaser. The  wings  of  the  former  house  alone  re- 
mained, detached  buildings,  such  as  were  used  in  the 
olden  days  to  accommodate  the  embroiderers,  weav- 
ers, peasant  musicians  and  actors  of  the  private 
troupes  kept  by  wealthy  grandees,  as  a  theatre,  or  as 
extra  apartments.  The  count  occupied  one  of  these 
wings. 

Two  years  later,  he  changed  his  mind  and  married. 
He  brought  his  beautiful  bride  of  half  his  age  to  this 
tiny  wing,  —  it  chanced  to  be  tiny  in  this  case,  —  and 
there  she  lived  for  seventeen  years.  The  horrible 
loneliness  of  it,  especially  in  winter,  with  not  a  neigh- 
bor for  miles,  unless  one  reckon  the  village  at  the 
park  gate,  which  could  not  have  furnished  anything 
but  human  beings,  and  never  a  congenial  companion 
for  her !  Needless  to  say  that  she  never  had  on  a 
low-bodied  gown,  never  went  to  the  theatre  or  a  ball, 
in  all  her  fair  young  life  ;  and  to  the  loneliness  of  the 
country  must  be  added  the  absolute  loneliness  during 
the  absences  of  the  count,  who  had  much  reading  to 
do  in  Moscow  for  the  historical  portions  of  his  great 
war  drama.  When  he  got  tired  of  his  village  school, 
of  his  experiments  upon  the  infant  peasant  mind,  of 
things  in  general,  he  could  and  did  go  away  for  rest. 
The  countess  did  not.  Decidedly,  the  Countess 
Sophia  Tolstoy  is  one  of  those  truly  feminine  hero- 
ines who  are  cast  into  shadow  by  a  brilliant  light 
close  to  them,  but  a  heroine  none  the  less  in  more  ways 
than  need  be  mentioned.  Her  self-denial  and  cour- 


COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.    ,          163 

age  gave  to  the  world  "  War  and  Peace  "  and  "  Anna 
Kardnin  ;"  and  she  declares  that  were  it  to  do  over 
again  she  would  not  hesitate  a  moment.  The  public 
owes  the  count's  wife  a  great  debt  of  gratitude,  and 
not  of  reproaches,  for  bravely  opposing  his  fatal  de- 
sire to  live  in  every  detail  the  life  of  a  peasant  laborer. 
Can  any  one  blessed  with  the  faintest  particle  of  im- 
agination fail  to  perceive  how  great  a  task  it  has 
been  to  withstand  him  thus  for  his  own  good ;  to 
rear  nine  healthy,  handsome,  well-bred  children  out 
of  the  much  larger  family  which  they  have  had ;  to 
bear  the  entire  responsibility  of  the  household  and 
the  business  ? 

She  remarked,  one  day,  that  there  was  no  crying 
need  for  the  Russian  nobility  to  follow  her  husband's 
teachings  and  give  away  all  their  goods  in  order  to  be 
on  a  level  with  the  peasants.  Plenty  of  them  would 
soon  attain  that  blissful  state  of  poverty  in  the  nat- 
ural course  of  things,  since  they  were  not  only  grow- 
ing poorer  every  year,  but  the  distribution  of  inherit- 
ances among  the  numerous  children  was  completing  the 
work,  and  very  many  would  be  reduced  to  laboring 
with  their  hands  for  a  living.  This  is  perfectly  true. 
There  is  no  law  of  primogeniture  in  Russia.  The  one 
established  by  Peter  the  Great  having  produced  di- 
vers and  grievous  evils,  besides  being  out  of  harmony 
with  the  Russian  character,  it  was  withdrawn.  All 
the  male  children  share  equally  in  the  father's  estate 
as  in  title.  The  female  children  receive  by  law  only 
an  extremely  small  portion  of  the  inheritance,  but 
their  dowry  is  not  limited. 

Among  the  count's  most  ardent  followers  is  one 
of  his  daughters.  She  does  everything  for  herself, 
according  to  his  teachings,  in  a  manner  which  Ameri- 


164  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

can  girls,  in  even  moderately  well-to-do  families, 
would  never  dream  of.  She  works  for  the  peasants 
in  various  ways,  and  carries  out  her  father's  ideas 
in  other  matters  as  far  as  possible.  Her  Spartan 
(or  Tolst6yan)  treatment  of  herself  may  be  of  value 
in  character-building,  as  mortification  of  the  flesh 
is  supposed  to  be  in  general.  Practically,  I  think 
the  relations  between  peasants  and  nobles  render 
her  sacrifices  unavailing.  For  example  :  one  of  the 
peasant  women  having  been  taken  ill,  —  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  sickness  in  the  village,  —  she  went  to 
the  hayfield  to  do  the  woman's  work  and  prevent  the 
forfeit  of  fifteen  or  twenty  cents,  the  price  of  the 
day's  labor.  We  strolled  out  to  find  her.  The  ther- 
mometer must  have  stood  at  100°  F.,  and  although 
the  dry  inland  heat  can  be  better  borne  than  the 
same  amount  of  damp  heat,  it  was  far  from  being 
comfortable  weather  even  for  indolent  persons.  We 
found  her  under  a  tree,  resting  and  drinking  cold  tea, 
while  she  awaited  the  return,  from  some  errand  of 
their  devising,  of  the  peasant  women  who  had  been 
at  work  with  her.  She  looked  wretchedly  ill,  and 
we  tried  to  prevail  on  her  to  go  back  to  the  house 
with  us.  But  the  count  (who  was  not  well  enough 
to  work)  happened  along,  and  as  he  said  nothing  she 
decided  to  stay  and  to  resume  labor  at  once,  since  the 
women  seemed  to  have  been  detained. 

As  we  beat  a  retreat  homeward  under  that  burn- 
ing sun,  we  discovered  the  nature  of  the  peasant 
women's  urgent  business.  They  were  engaged  in 
stripping  the  count's  bushes  of  their  fruit  and  devour- 
ing it  by  the  handful.  We  could  not  persuade  him 
to  interfere.  "  They  want  it,  or  they  would  not  take 
it,"  he  said.  It  was  none  of  our  business,  to  be  sure, 


COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  165 

but  those  strong,  muscular  women  offered  such  a  con- 
trast, in  physique  and  conduct,  to  the  fair,  delicate 
young  girl  whom  we  had  just  left  that  we  felt  indig- 
nant enough  to  attack  them  ourselves,  if  it  would 
have  done  any  good.  The  next  day  his  daughter 
was  more  seriously  ill  than  the  peasant  woman  whose 
place  she  had  taken.  I  should  not  have  felt  unhappy 
to  learn  that  those  women  had  been  uncomfortably 
ill  in  consequence  of  their  greediness. 

The  count  has  no  longer  a  school  for  the  peasant 
children,  by  the  way.  The  necessity  for  that  is  past. 
But  he  must  have  been  an  original  professor.  A 
friend  of  mine  in  St.  Petersburg,  who  was  interested, 
during  the  sixties,  in  the  secular  Sunday-schools  for 
workingmen  who  could  not  attend  on  week  days, 
repeated  to  me  the  count's  method  as  imparted  to 
her  by  himself  while  visiting  the  capital.  He  ob- 
jected to  the  rules  which  compelled  the  men  to  be 
regular  in  attendance,  on  the  ground  that  learning 
must  not  be  acquired  thus  mechanically,  under  com- 
pulsion, but  when  the  scholar  feels  an  inward  im- 
pulse. He  would  not  listen  to  the  suggestion  that 
this  method  would  hardly  answer  when  study  must 
be  prosecuted  on  specified  days  under  penalty  of 
eternal  ignorance.  He  said  that  when  he  found  his 
peasant  pupils  indisposed  to  learn  he  dismissed  the 
school,  went  home,  and  occupied  himself  in  his  own 
affairs.  After  an  interval,  more  or  less  long,  a 
scuffling  of  feet  and  a  rapping  would  become  audible 
at  the  door,  and  small  voices  would  plead  :  "  Please, 
Lyeff  Nikola'itch,  we  want  to  study.  Please,  come 
and  teach  us."  He  went,  and  they  made  rapid  prog- 
ress because  all  was  purely  voluntary. 

One  of  the  whitened  stone  wings  of  the  old  manor 


166  COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

house  stands  unchanged.  It  is  occupied  in  summer 
by  the  countess's  sister  and  her  famity.  She  is  a 
handsome  and  clever  woman,  who  translates,  and 
who  has  written  some  strong  short  stories.  The 
wing  used  by  the  count  has  been  enlarged  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  large  family,  and  yet  it  is 
not  a  great  or  imposing  house.  At  one  end  a  stone 
addition,  like  the  original  building,  contains,  on  the 
ground  floor,  the  count's  two  rooms,  which  open  on 
an  uncovered  stone  terrace  facing  the  hedge-inclosed 
lawn,  with  beds  of  bright  flowers  bordering  it,  and 
the  stately  lindens  of  the  grand  avenues  waving  their 
crests  beyond  in  the  direction  of  the  ponds.  Over 
these  rooms  and  the  vestibule  is  the  hall,  indispensa- 
ble as  a  dining-room  and  a  play-room  for  the  small 
children  in  wet  weather  and  in  winter.  A  wooden  ad- 
dition at  the  other  end  furnishes  half  a  dozen  rooms 
for  members  of  the  family,  the  tutor,  and  the  maids. 
Near  by  stand  several  log  cottages,  —  the  bakehouse, 
the  servants'  dining-room,  and  other  necessary  offices. 
The  count's  study  is  very  plain.  The  walls  are  in 
part  lined  with  bookcases  ;  in  part  they  are  covered 
with  portraits  of  relatives  and  of  distinguished  per- 
sons whom  he  admires.  There  are  more  bookcases 
in  the  vestibule,  for  people  are  constantly  sending 
him  books  of  every  conceivable  sort.  I  imagine  that 
the  first  copies  of  every  book,  pamphlet,  and  journal 
on  any  hobby  or  "  ism,"  especially  from  America, 
find  their  way  to  the  address  of  Count  Tolst6y.  He 
showed  me  some  very  wild  products  of  the  human 
brain.  The  hall  upstairs  has  a  polished  wood  floor, 
as  is  usual  with  such  rooms,  and  a  set  of  very  simple 
wicker  furniture.  Portraits  of  ancestors,  some  of 
whom  figure  in  "  War  and  Peace,"  hang  upon  the 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  1G7 

walls.  A  piano,  on  which  the  count  sometimes  plays, 
and  a  large  table  complete  the  furniture.  Every- 
thing in  the  house  is  severely  simple.  If  I  take  the 
liberty  of  going  into  these  details,  it  is  in  the  interest 
of  justice.  The  house  has  been  described  in  print 
—  from  imagination,  it  would  seem — as  "a  castle 
luxuriously  furnished,"  and  the  count  has  been  re- 
proached with  it.  Cheap  as  the  furniture  is,  he 
grumbled  at  it  when  it  was  purchased;  he  grumbles 
at  it  still,  and  to  me  spoke  of  it  as  "  sinful  luxury." 
But  then  he  cannot  be  regarded  a  fair  judge  of  what 
constitutes  luxury. 

The  whole  house,  outside  and  in,  is  modest  in  the 
extreme.  The  park  with  its  avenues  of  lindens, 
which  were  in  full  bloom  during  our  visit,  the  ponds 
and  lawns  and  forest,  must  have  been  superb  in  the 
time  of  his  grandfather,  and  even  of  his  mother,  from 
whom  he  inherited  it.  A  grove  and  thicket  now 
occupy  the  site  of  the  former  manor,  and  screen  the 
view  of  each  wing  from  the  other.  Vegetable  gar- 
dens and  berry  patches  lie  near  at  hand,  and  beds  of 
brilliant  but  not  rare  flowers  enliven  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  house. 

The  estate  is  large  and  fertile,  though  it  does  not 
lie  in  the  famous  "  black-earth  zone."  This  begins  & 
few  miles  south  of  it. 

Plain  wholesome  food,  simple  dress,  an  open-air 
life  without  fixed  programme,  were  what  we  found. 
In  the  morning,  after  drinking  tea  or  coffee,  with 
bread  and  butter,  in  the  hall,  we  usually  strolled 
through  the  lovely  forest,  filled  with  flowers  and  per- 
fumes, to  the  little  rivrr  about  a  mile  distant,  for 
a  bath.  The  unpainted  board  bath-house  had  seats 
running  along  the  walls,  and  steps  leading  down  into 


168  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

the  water.  A  framework  supporting  thick  screens 
of  golden  rye  straw  extended  far  out  over  the  stream. 
A  door  upstream  swung  open  at  will  for  ambitious 
swimmers.  It  was  a  solitary  spot.  The  peasant  girls 
pitching  hay  in  the  meadows  beyond  with  three- 
pronged  boughs  stripped  of  their  leaves  were  the  only 
persons  we  ever  saw.  Clad  in  their  best  scarlet  cot- 
ton sarafdni  and  head  kerchiefs,  they  added  greatly 
to  the  beauty  of  the  landscape.  Haying  is  .such  easy 
work  compared  to  the  rest  of  the  summer  labors,  that 
the  best  gowns  are  donned  as  for  a  festival. 

.  If  the  boys  got  ahead  of  us  on  those  hot  morn- 
ings, when  we  had  dispensed  with  every  article  of 
clothing  not  absolutely  necessary,  we  lay  in  the 
shadow  of  the  fragrant  birches  at  the  top  of  the  hill 
on  the  soft,  short  sward,  which  seems  in  Russia  to 
grow  as  thick  in  dense  forests  as  in  open  glades,  and 
waited  until  they  could  tear  themselves  from  the 
cool  embrace  of  the  stream.  Then  we  went  in,  great 
and  small,  but  with  no  bathing-dress.  The  use  of 
such  a  garment  on  such  an  occasion  would  be  re- 
garded as  a  sign  that  one  was  afflicted  with  some 
bodily  defect  which  one  was  anxious  to  conceal.  By 
the  time  we  had  refreshed  ourselves  and  rambled 
back,  searching  for  early  mushrooms  through  the  for- 
est or  the  great  plantation  of  birches  set  out  by  the 
count's  own  hands  a  quarter  of  a  century  before, 
and  grown  now  to  stout  and  serviceable  giants,  the 
twelve  o'clock  breakfast  was  ready  under  the  trees. 
At  this  informal  meal  every  one  sat  where  he  pleased, 
and  helped  himself.  At  dinner,  on  the  contrary,  my 
place  was  always  at  the  count's  left  hand.  We  sat 
on  whatever  offered  itself.  Sometimes  I  had  a  wooden 
chair,  sometimes  a  bit  of  the  long  bench  like  a  plas- 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  169 

terer's  horse.  Once,  when  some  one  rose  suddenly 
from  the  other  end  of  this,  I  tumbled  over  on  the 
count  and  narrowly  escaped  wrecking  his  dinner. 

At  no  meal  did  the  count  ever  eat  a  mouthful  of 
meat,  despite  urgent  persuasion.  Boiled  buckwheat 
groats,  salted  cucumbers,  black  bread,  eggs  with  spin- 
ach, tea  and  coffee,  sour  kvas  (beer  made  from  black 
bread),  and  cabbage  soup  formed  the  staple  of  his 
diet,  even  when  ill,  and  when  most  people  would  have 
avoided  the  cucumbers  and  kvas,  at  least. 

The  family  generally  met  as  a  whole  for  the  first 
time  at  breakfast.  The  count  had  been  busy  at  work 
in  the  fields,  in  writing  or  reading  in  his  study  ; 
the  boys  with  their  tutor ;  the  countess  copying  her 
husband's  manuscript  and  ordering  the  household. 
After  breakfast  every  one  did  what  he  pleased  until 
dinner.  There  was  riding,  driving, — anything  that 
the  heat  permitted.  A  second  bath,  late  in  the  after- 
noon, was  indulged  in  when  it  was  very  hot.  The 
afternoon  bathing  party  generally  drove  down  in  a 
lineika,  a  sort  of  long  jaunting-car  with  a  central 
bench,  not  too  wide,  on  which  the  passengers  sit  back 
to  back,  their  feet  resting  on  a  narrow  footboard 
which  curves  over  the  wheels  as  a  shield.  This 
lineika  had  also  cross-seats  at  each  end,  and  with 
judicious  packing  could  be  made  to  hold  sixteen  per- 
sons. As  it  was  upholstered  in  leather  and  had  no 
springs,  there  was  some  art  in  keeping  one's  seat 
when  the  three  horses  were  going  at  full  speed  over 
the  uneven  forest  road. 

After  breakfast  I  sometimes  sat  under  the  trees 
with  the  countess,  and  helped  her  sew  on  baby  Ivan's 
clothes,  for  the  pleasure  of  her  conversation.  No- 
thing could  be  more  fascinating.  This  beautiful 


170  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

woman  has  not  rusted  during  her  long  residence  in 
the  country.  There  are  few  better  informed  women 
than  she,  few  better  women  of  business,  few  women 
who  are  so  clever  and  practical. 

One  day,  as  I  was  sitting,  armed  with  thimble  and 
needle,  waiting  for  her,  the  count  discovered  a  hole 
in  his  pocket,  and  asked  his  niece  to  mend  it  for 
him.  She  had  not  her  implements.  I  volunteered, 
—  to  do  the  mending,  not  to  lend  the  wherewithal. 
The  pocket  was  of  black  silk,  my  thread  of  white 
cotton,  but  that  was  of  no  consequence.  I  seated 
myself  comfortably  on  the  sand,  and  speedily  discov- 
ered not  one  hole,  but  a  row  of  holes  such  as  wear 
along  the  seams  of  pockets.  The  count  was  greatly 
annoyed  at  the  trouble  he  was  giving  me,  protested 
as  I  began  on  each  new  hole,  and  was  very  restless. 
I  was  finally  obliged  to  speak. 

"  Lyeff  Nikola/itch,"  I  said,  "  do  me  the  favor  to 
sit  still.  Your  reputation  as  well  as  mine  is  in- 
volved in  this  work.  It  must  be  done  thoroughly 
and  neatly  quite  as  much  for  your  sake  as  for  mine." 

44  How  so  ?  "  he  asked  in  surprise. 

44  My  woman's  reputation  for  neat  mending  trem- 
bles in  the  balance ;  and  do  not  you  advocate  the 
theory  that  we  should  help  our  fellow-men?  You 
have  helped  others  ;  it  is  your  turn  now  to  be  experi- 
mented on.  And  besides,  if  the  fellow-man  obsti- 
nately refuses  to  be  helped  by  others,  how  are  we 
to  do  our  duty  by  him?  How  could  you  work  for 
others,  if  they  persisted  in  following  out  the  other 
half  of  your  doctrine  and  doing  everything  for  them- 
selves? 'Tis  plain  that  you  understand  how  to  ren- 
der services  far  better  than  to  receive  them.  Reform. 
Submit." 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  171 

The  count  laughed,  with  a  sort  of  grim  bewilder- 
ment in  his  eye,  and  behaved  in  an  exemplary  man- 
ner for  the  few  remaining  moments.  I  mentally 
thanked  Fate  for  providing  me  with  an  opportunity 
for  suggesting  an  object  lesson  on  a  point  which  had 
puzzled  me  not  a  little,  and  which  I  had  been  pining 
to  attack  in  some  form.  He  did  not  explain  away 
my  difficulties,  it  is  true,  but  I  was  satisfied  with 
having  presented  the  other  side  of  the  shield  to  his 
attention. 

On  another  occasion,  as  we  sat  under  the  trees,  a 
peasant  came,  scythe  on  shoulder,  to  complain  to  the 
countess  of  his  wrongs.  No  one  ever  went  to  the 
count,  knowing  that  his  wife  had  full  management. 
Peasants  who  came  in  a  deputation  to  parley  about 
hiring  or  buying  extra  land,  and  so  on,  applied  di- 
rectly to  her.  The  comrades  of  this  Vasily  Alex- 
eTitch  had  got  two  buckets  of  vtidka,  and  had  forced 
him,  who  detested  liquor,  to  drink  of  it.  Then  they 
had  become  quarrelsome  (he  was  peaceable),  and 
they  had  torn  his  shirt  —  so!  Hereupon  he  flung 
back  his  coat,  worn  in  Russian  fashion  with  the 
sleeves  hanging,  and  let  his  faded  red  cotton  shirt  fall 
from  his  muscular  shoulders,  leaving  him  nude  to  the 
waist,  save  for  the  cheap  little  baptismal  cross  sus- 
pended round  his  neck  by  a  cord.  The  small  boys 
set  up  a  shout  of  laughter  at  his  story  and  his  action. 
The  countess  rebuked  him  sharply  for  such  conduct 
before  the  children,  and  refused  to  interfere  in  the 
quarrel.  The  man  pulled  his  torn  shirt  over  his 
body  and  slouched  off.  That  evening,  after  tea,  the 
count  happened  to  hit  upon  a  couple  of  Mr.  Rider 
Haggard's  books  for  discussion,  and,  for  the  benefit 
of  those  in  the  company  who  had  not  read  it,  gave 


172  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

the  chief  points  of  "  She  "  in  particularly  lively  style, 
which  kept  us  all  in  laughter.  In  describing  the 
heroine,  he  said  that  "  she  was  clothed  in  an  airy 
garment,  like  Vasily  AlexeTitch  ;  "  and  again  that 
44  she  dropped  her  garment,  and  stood  like  Vasily 
Alexei'itch."  He  pronounced  "  She  "  and  other  works 
of  Haggard  "  the  lowest  type  of  literature,"  and  said 
that  "  it  was  astonishing  how  so  many  English  people 
could  go  wild  over  them."  He  seemed  to  read  every- 
thing, good  and  bad,  and  to  possess  not  only  an  om- 
nivorous literary  appetite,  but  a  wonderful  memory 
for  books,  even  in  small  details. 

Among  the  innumerable  things  which  he  read  were 
Mormon  publications,  sent  him  regularly  from  head- 
quarters. I  cannot  explain  the  object  of  the  Mor- 
mons in  making  him  the  point  of  attack.  He  thought 
very  highly  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Mormons  as  set 
forth  by  themselves,  and  could  not  understand  why 
they  were  "  persecuted  "  in  America.  No  one  had 
ever  sent  him  documents  on  the  other  side  of  the 
question,  and  he  seemed  as  ignorant  of  it  as  I  was  of 
the  Mormon  arguments.  In  answer  to  his  queries,  I 
told  him  that  the  problems  involved  were  too  numer- 
ous, serious,  and  complicated  for  me  to  enter  upon ; 
that  the  best  way,  under  such  circumstances,  was  for 
him  to  read  statements  set  down  in  black  and  white 
by  recognized  authorities  on  the  subject;  and  that 
I  would  cause  books  on  the  matter  to  be  forwarded 
to  him,  which  I  did.  But  he  persisted  that  our  gov- 
ernment is  in  the  wrong. 

"  It  is  a  shame,"  said  he,  "  that  in  a  great  and  free 
country  like  America  a  community  of  people  should 
be  so  oppressed,  and  not  allowed  that  liberty  of  which 
you  boast." 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  173 

"  You  know  your  Dickens  well,"  I  answered. 
"  Have  you  any  recollection  of  Martin  Chuzzlewit? 
You  will  remember  that  when  Martin  was  in  Amer- 
ica with  Mark  Tapley  lie  saw  a  slave  being  sold. 
Mark  Tapley  observed  that  'the  Americans  were  so 
fond  of  Liberty  that  they  took  liberties  with  her.' 
That  is,  in  brief,  what  ails  the  Mormons.  The  only 
argument  in  favor  of  them  which  can  possibly  be 
made  is  that  their  practice,  not  their  preaching,  offers 
the  only  solution  of  your  own  theory  that  all  women 
should  be  married.  But  that  theory  has  never  been 
advanced  in  extenuation  of  their  behavior.  I  offer  it 
to  you  brand  new,  as  a  slight  illustration  of  a  very 
unpleasant  subject." 

One  day,  during  a  chat  in  his  study,  he  had  praised 
Dickens. 

u  There  are  three  requisites  which  go  to  make  a 
perfect  writer,"  he  remarked.  "  First,  he  must  have 
something  worth  saying.  Second,  he  must  have  a 
proper  way  of  saying  it.  Third,  he  must  have  sin- 
cerity. Dickens  had  all  three  of  these  qualities. 
Thackeray  had  not  much  to  say ;  he  had  a  great  deal 
of  art  in  saying  it ;  but  lie  had  not  enough  sincerity. 
Dostoievsky  possessed  all  three  requisites.  Nekrasoff 
knew  well  how  to  express  himself,  but  he  did  not 
possess  the  first  quality  ;  he  forced  himself  to  say 
something,  whatever  would  catch  the  public  at  the 
moment,  of  which  he  was  a  very  keen  judge.  As  he 
wrote  to  suit  the  popular  taste,  believing  not  at  all  in 
what  he  said,  he  had  none  of  the  third  requisite." 
He  declared  that  America  had  not  as  yet  produced 
any  first-class  woman  writer,  like  George  Eliot  and 
George  Sand. 

Count    Tolst6y's   latest    book   at    that   time  was 


174  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

"What  to  Do?"  It  was  much  discussed,  though 
not  very  new.  It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the 
final  chapter  of  that  work  he  argues  that  woman's 
whole  duty  consists  in  marrying  and  having  as  large 
a  family  as  possible.  But,  in  speaking  of  Mr.  How- 
ells's  "  The  Undiscovered  Country,"  which  he  had 
just  discovered,  —  it  was  odd  to  think  he  had  never 
heard  of  Mr.  Howells  before,  —  he  remarked,  in  con- 
nection with  the  Shakers,  that  "it  was  a  good  thing 
that  they  did  not  marry." 

He  said  this  more  than  once  and  at  some  length. 
I  did  not  like  to  enter  on  the  subject  lest  he  should 
go  too  far,  in  his  earnestness,  before  the  assembled 
company.  Therefore  I  seized  an  opportunity  to  ask 
his  wife  how  he  reconciled  that  remark  with  his 
creed  that  all  women  should  marry. 

She  answered  that  it  certainly  was  not  consistent, 
but  that  her  husband  changed  his  opinion  every  two 
years  ;  and,  to  my  consternation,  she  instantly  appealed 
to  him.  He  did  not  go  into  details,  however.  He 
pulled  out  a  letter  which  he  had  received  from  a  Eus- 
sian  woman,  a  stranger  to  him.  The  writer  said: 
"While  acknowledging  the  justice  of  your  views, 
I  must  remark  that  marringe  is  a  fate  which  is  not 
possible  to  every  woman.  What,  then,  in  your  opin- 
ion, should  a  woman  who  has  missed  that  fate  do  ?  " 

I  was  interested  in  his  reply,  because  six  months 
earlier  he  had  advised  me  to  marry.  I  inquired  what 
answer  he  intended  to  send,  —  that  is,  if  he  meant 
to  reply  at  all.  He  said  that  he  considered  the  let- 
ter of  sufficient  importance  to  merit  an  answer,  and 
that  he  should  tell  her  that  "every  woman  who  had 
not  married,  whatever  the  reason,  ought  to  impose 
upon  herself  the  hardest  cross  which  she  could  de- 
vise, and  bear  it." 


COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  175 

"  And  so  punish  herself  for  the  fault  of  others, 
perhaps  ?  "  I  asked.  "  No.  If  your  correspondent  is 
a  woman  of  sufficient  spirit  to  Impose  that  cross,  she 
will  also  have  sufficient  spirit  to  retort  that  very  fe\v 
of  us  choose  our  own  crosses ;  and  that  women's 
crosses  imposed  by  Fate,  Providence,  or  whatever 
one  pleases  to  call  it,  are  generally  heavier,  more 
cruel,  than  any  which  they  could  imagine  for  them- 
selves in  the  maddest  ecstasy  of  pain-worship.  Are 
the  Shaker  women,  of  whom  you  approve,  also  to 
invent  crosses  ?  And  how  about  the  Shaker  men  ? 
What  is  their  duty  in  the  matter  of  invoking  suf- 
fering?" 

He  made  no  reply,  except  that  "  non-marriage  was 
the  ideal  state,"  and  then  relapsed  into  silence,  as  was 
his  habit  when  he  did  not  intend  to  relinquish  his 
idea.  Nevertheless  I  am  convinced  he  is  always  open 
to  the  influence  —  quite  unconsciously,  of  course — of 
argument  from  any  quarter.  His  changes  of  belief 
prove  it. 

These  remarks  anent  the  Shakers  seemed  to  indi- 
cate that,  another  change  was  imminent;  and  as  the 
history  of  his  progress  through  the  links  of  his  chain 
of  reasoning  was  a  subject  of  the  greatest  interest  to 
me,  I  asked  his  wife  for  it.  It  cannot  be  called  any- 
thing but  a  linked  progress,  since  the  germs — nay, 
the  nearly  full-fledged  idea  —  of  his  present  moral 
and  religious  attitude  can  be  found  in  almost  all  of 
his  writings  from  the  very  beginning. 

When  the  count  married,  he  had  attained  to  that 
familiar  stage  in  the  spiritual  life  where  men  have 
forgotten,  or  outgrown,  or  thoroughly  neglected  for  a 
long  time  the  religious  instruction  inculcated  upon 
them  in  their  childhood.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 


176  COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

count  had  been  well  grounded  in  religious  tenets  and 
ceremonies  ;  the  Russian  church  is  particular  on  this 
point,  and  examinations  in  "the  law  of  God  "  form 
part  of  the  conditions  for  entrance  to  the  state 
schools.  But,  having  reached  the  point  where  reli- 
gion has  no  longer  any  solid  grasp  upon  a  man,  he  did 
not  like  to  see  other  people  observe  even  the  forms. 

Later  on  he  began  a  novel,  to  be  called  "  The  De- 
cembrists." The  Decembrists  is  the  name  given  to 
the  participants  in  the  disorders  of  1825,  on  the 
accession  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas  I.  to  the  throne. 
Among  the  preparations  which  he  made  for  this 
work  were  excursions  taken  with  the  object  of  ac- 
quainting himself  with  the  divers  dialects  and  pecul- 
iarities of  expression  current  in  the  different  parts 
of  the  empire.  These  he  collected  from  pilgrims  on 
the  highways  and  byways. 

"  A  pilgrim,"  said  the  witty  countess,  "  is  a  man 
who  has  grown  tired  of  the  jars  and  the  cares  and 
responsibilities  of  the  household  ;  out  of  patience 
with  the  family  in  general.  He  feels  the  necessity, 
inborn  in  every  Russian,  for  roaming,  for  getting  far 
away  from  people,  into  the  country  and  the  forests. 
So  he  makes  a  pilgrimage  to  some  distant  shrine.  I 
should  like  to  be  a  pilgrim  myself,  but  the  family 
ties  me  down.  I  feel  the  need  of  freshening  up  my 
ideas." 

In  these  excursions  the  count  came  to  see  how 
great  a  part  religion  plays  in  the  life  of  the  lower 
classes ;  and  he  argued  that,  in  order  to  get  into 
sympathy  with  them,  one  must  share  their  ideas  as 
to  religion.  Accordingly  he  plunged  into  it  with  his 
customary  ardor,  —  "  he  has  a  passionate  nature,"  — 
and  for  several  years  he  attended  every  church  ser- 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  177 

vice,  observed  every  rite,  kept  every  fast,  and  so  on. 
lie  thought  it  horrible  if  those  about  him  did  not  do 
the  same,  —  if  they  neglected  a  single  form.  I  think 
it  quite  probable  that  he  initiated  the  trouble  with 
his  stomach  by  these  fasts.  They  are  nothing  to  a 
person  who  has  always  been  used  to  them  ;  but  when 
we  consider  that  the  longer  fasts  cover  about  four 
solid  months,  —  not  to  mention  the  usual  abstinence 
on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays  and  the  special  absti- 
nences, —  and  that  milk,  eggs,  cheese,  and  butter  are 
prohibited,  as  well  as  other  customary  articles  of 
food,  it  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  the  effect  of  sudden 
and  strict  observance  upon  a  man  accustomed  during 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  to  a  meat  diet.  The  vege- 
table diet  in  which  he  now  persists  only  aggravates 
the  evil  in  one  who  is  afflicted  with  liver  trouble,  and 
who  is  too  old  to  train  his  vital  economy  in  fresh 
paths. 

His  religious  ardor  lasted  until  he  went  to  church 
one  day,  during  the  last  Russo-Turkish  war,  when 
prayers  were  offered  for  the  success  of  the  Russian 
army.  It  suddenly  struck  him  that  it  was  inconsis- 
tent with  "Love  your  enemies,"  "Love  one  another," 
"  Do  not  kill,"  that  prayers  should  be  offered  for  the 
death  of  enemies.  From  that  day  forth  he  ceased  to 
go  to  church,  as  he  had  also  perceived  that  the  prac- 
tice of  religious  forms  did  not,  in  reality,  bring  him 
much  nearer  to  the  peasants,  and  that  one  must  live 
among  them,  work  among  them,  to  appreciate  their 
point  of  view. 

The  only  surprising  thing  about  this  is  that  he 
should  never  have  noticed  that  the  army  is  prayed 
for,  essentially  in  the  same  sense,  at  every  church 
service.  After  the  petitions  for  the  Emperor  and  the 


178  COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

imperial  family,  the  liturgy  proceeds,  "  And  we  pray 
for  the  army,  that  Thou  wilt  assist  Them  [that  is, 
the  Imperial  family  and  its  army],  and  subdue  all 
foes  and  enemies  under  Their  feet."  Perhaps  these 
familiar  words  came  home  to  him  with  special  force 
on  that  particular  day,  as  familiar  words  sometimes 
do.  Possibly  it  was  a  special  prayer.  In  any  case, 
the  prayer  was  strictly  logical.  If  you  have  an  army, 
pray  for  it ;  and  the  only  prayer  that  can  be  offered 
is,  obviously,  not  for  its  defeat.  That  would  be  tan- 
tamount to  praying  for  the  enemy ;  which  might  be 
Scriptural,  in  one  way,  but  would  be  neither  natural, 
popular,  nor  further  removed  from  objections  of  mur- 
der than  the  other. 

But  Count  Tolst6y  was  logical,  also,  in  another 
way.  Once  started  on  this  train  of  thought,  most 
worldly  institutions  of  the  present  day,  beginning 
with  the  army,  appeared  to  him  opposed  to  the 
teaching  of  Christ,  on  whi-ch  point  no  rational  man 
will  differ  from  him.  As  to  the  possibility  of  living 
the  life  of  Christ,  or  even  the  advisability  of  trying 
it,  at  this  period  of  the  world,  that  is  quite  another 
matter. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  recapitulate  here  that 
which  all  the  world  knows  already,  —  the  minute 
details  of  his  belief  in  personal  property,  labor,  the 
renunciation  of  art  and  science,  and  so  forth.  We 
discussed  them.  But  I  neglected  my  opportunities 
to  worry  him  with  demands  for  his  catechism,  which 
his  visitors  delight  in  grinding  out  of  him  as  though 
from  a  machine,  when  the  reading  public  must  be 
sufficiently  informed  on  that  score  already.  I  have  en- 
deavored to  set  down  only  the  special  illustrations  of 
his  doctrines,  out  of  the  rich  mass  of  his  conversation. 


COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  179 

Those  who  have  perused  attentively  his  earlier 
works  will  have  perceived  that  there  is  really  very 
little  that  is  absolutely  new  in  these  doctrines.  They 
are  so  strictly  the  development  of  ideas  which  are  an 
integral  part  of  him,  through  heredity,  environment, 
and  personal  bias,  that  the  only  surprise  would  be 
that  he  should  not  have  ended  in  this  way.  Com- 
munity of  goods,  mutual  help,  and  kindred  doctrines 
are  the  national  birthright  of  every  Russian,  often 
bartered,  it  is  true.  But  long  residence  in  the  coun- 
try among  the  peasants  who  do  not  preach  these  doc- 
trines, but  simply  practice  them,  naturally  affected 
the  thoughtful  student  of  humanity  though  he  was  of 
a  different  rank.  He  began  to  announce  his  theories 
to  the  world,  and  found  followers,  as  teachers  of  these 
views  generally  do,  —  a  proof  that  they  satisfy  an 
instinct  in  the  human  breast.  Solitary  country  life 
anywhere  is  productive  of  such  views. 

Disciples,  or  "adepts,"  began  to  make  pilgrim- 
ages to  the  prophet.  There  is  a  characteristic,  a 
highly  characteristic  history  of  one  such  who  came 
and  established  himself  in  the  village  at  the  count's 
park  gate. 

"  This  F.  was  a  Jew,  who  did  not  finish  his 
studies,  got  led  astray  by  socialists,  and  joined  a 
community  where,  like  the  other  members,  he  lived 
out  of  marriage  with  a  young  girl  student.  At  last 
he  came  across  a  treatise  of  Lyeff  Nikolaevitch,  and 
decided  that  he  was  wrong  and  Lyeff  Nikolaevitch 
right.  He  removed  to  Yasnaya  Polyana,  married  his 
former  mistress,  and  began  to  live  and  work  among 
the  peasants."  (He  first  joined  the  Russian  church, 
and  one  of  the  count's  daughters  stood  godmother 
for  him.)  "  His  wife  worked  also  ;  but,  with  deli- 


180  COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

cate  health  and  two  small  children  to  care  for,  she 
could  do  little,  through  weakness  and  lack  of  skill. 
The  peasants  laughed  at  him  and  at  Lyeff  Nikold- 
'itch." 

Mrs.  F.  came  to  the  countess  with  her  griefs,  and 
the  latter  helped  her  with  food,  clothing,  and  in  other 
ways.  "  One  day  nothing  remained  in  the  house 
to  eat  but  a  single  crust.  F.  was  ill.  His  wife, 
who  was  also  ill  and  feeble,  went  off  to  work.  On 
her  return  she  f$und  no  bread.  Some  one  had  come 
along  begging  4  Khrista  rd di '  [for  Christ's  sake], 
and  F.  bad  given  him  the  crust,  —  with  absolute 
consistency,  it  must  be  confessed.  This  was  the 
end.  There  was  a  scene.  The  wife  went  back  to  her 
friends.  F.  also  gave  up,  went  off  to  Ekaterinoslaff, 
learned  the  tailor's  trade,  and  married  again  !  "  How 
he  managed  this  second  marriage  without  commit- 
ting bigamy,  in  view  of  the  laws  of  Russia  on  that 
point,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  understand. 

"All  my  husband's  disciples,"  said  the  countess, 
"  are  small,  blond,  sickly,  and  homely  ;  all  as  like 
one  to  another  as  a  pair  of  old  boots.  You  have  seen 
them.  X.  Z.  —  you  know  him  —  had  a  very  pretty 
talent  for  verses  ;  but  he  has  ruined  it  and  his  mind, 
and  made  himself  quite  an  idiot,  by  following  my 
husband's  teachings." 

The  count  provided  a  complement  to  these  re- 
marks in  a  conversation  on  Russian  writers.  He 
said  of  a  certain  author;  "  That  man  has  never  been 
duly  appreciated,  has  never  received  the  recogni- 
tion which  his  genius  deserves.  Yet  you  know  how 
superbly  he  writes,  —  or  rather,  did  write.  He  has 
spoiled  himself  now  by  imitating  me.  It  is  a  pity." 

This    ingenuous    comment   is   rescued   from   any 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  181 

tinge  of  conceit  or  egotism  by  its  absolute  simplicity 
and  truth.  The  imitation  referred  to  is  of  the  moral 
"Tales"  for  popular  reading  of  the  lower  classes, 
\vhich  my  cabman  had  studied.  The  pity  of  it  is, 
when  so  many  of  the  contemporary  writers  of  Russia 
owe  their  inspiration,  their  very  existence,  to  Turge- 
neff  and  Tolst6y  having  preceded  them,  that  a  man 
who  possesses  personal  talent  and  a  delightful  indi- 
vidual style  should  sacrifice  them.  In  his  case  it  is 
unnecessary.  Count  Tolstoy's  recognition  of  this  fact 
is  characteristic. 

The  countess's  description  of  the  "  adepts  "  was  as 
clever  as  the  rest  of  her  remarks,  and  absolutely  ac- 
curate. One  of  them  was  at  the  house  for  a  day  or 
two.  (I  had  seen  them  elsewhere  as  well.)  He  had 
evidently  got  himself  a  new  blouse  for  the  visit.  It 
was  of  coarse  blue  and  white  cloth,  checked,  and  so 
stiff  with  newness  that,  having  a  long  slit  and  only 
one  button,  at  the  neck,  I  could  see  the  whole  of  his 
hairy  breast  every  time  I  looked  at  him  from  the  left 
side.  I  sympathized  with  Prince  K.,  who  being  next 
him  at  table  turned  his  back  on  him  and  ignored  him 
conversationally  ;  which  embarrassed  the  young  man 
extremely.  Apropos  of  his  shirt,  I  never  saw  any 
one  but  the  count  himself  wear  a  shirt  that  a  real 
peasant  would  have  worn  ;  and  I  do  not  believe  that 
even  he  had  one  of  the  characteristic  red  cotton  gar- 
ments which  are  the  peasant's  pride. 

I  found  this  adept  interesting  when  he  sat  opposite 
me,  and  he  incited  the  count  to  vivacity.  He  con- 
tributed a  very  good  anecdote  illustrative  of  the 
count's  followers. 

A  man  in  one  of  the  southern  governments  — 
which  one  is  immaterial  here — sent  a  quantity  of 


182  COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

lithographed  copies  of  five  or  ten  forbidden  books 
(Tolstoy's  and  others)  to  a  disciple  of  Tolstoy  in  one 
of  the  northern  governments.  In  the  village  of  this 
disciple,  some  young  women  students  in  the  higher 
or  university  courses  for  women,  and  followers  of  Tol- 
stoy, were  living  for  the  summer  in  peasant  fashion, 
and  working  in  the  fields,  "  to  the  scornful  pity  of  the 
peasants"  (I  italicize  this  phrase  as  remarkable  on 
the  lips  of  an  adept.)  These  young  women,  having 
heard  of  the  dispatch  by  post  of  the  books,  and  being 
in  the  town,  thought  to  do  the  count's  disciple  a  favor 
by  asking  if  they  had  arrived.  Had  they  refrained, 
nothing  would  have  happened  and  the  books  would 
have  been  delivered  without  a  question.  As  it  was, 
attention  was  attracted  to  the  parcel  by  the  inquiry 
of  these  girls  of  eccentric  behavior.  The  fifty  or  sixty 
copies  were  confiscated ;  the  girls'  passports  were 
taken  from  them.  The  disciple  appealed  to  a  rela- 
tive in  high  official  position  in  their  behalf.  The 
girls  were  informed,  in  consequence,  that  they  might 
hire  themselves  out  to  work  for  this  disciple  of  gentle 
birth  as  much  as  they  liked ;  but  they  were  forbidden 
to  work  for  or  among  the  peasants.  The  adventure 
was  not  ended  when  this  story  was  told.  Whether 
the  students  were  satisfied  with  the  permission  to 
work  I  do  not  know.  Probably  not;  their  fellow- 
disciple  would  not  have  scorned  them  as  the  peasants 
did,  and  contradiction,  that  spice  of  life  to  enthusias- 
tic worshipers  of  impracticable  ideas,  would  have  been 
lacking.  In  my  opinion,  the  authorities  committed 
an  error  in  judgment.  They  should  have  shown  more 
faith  in  the  peasants,  the  toil,  and  the  girls'  unhard- 
ened  frames.  All  three  elements  combined  could 
have  been  trusted  to  effect  a  permanent  cure  of  those 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  183 

disciples  by  the  end  of  the  harvest,  had  they  been 
gently  encouraged  not  only  to  work  with  the  peas- 
ants but  to  prove  that  they  were  capable  of  toiling 
and  enduring  in  precisely  the  same  manner  and 
measure. 

Still  the  authorities  very  naturally  looked  upon  the 
action  of  the  girls  as  a  case  of  idti  v  nar6d  (going  to 
the  people),  in  the  sense  understood  by  the  revolution- 
ary propagandists.  Their  prohibition  was  based  on 
this  ground. 

In  some  way  we  got  upon  the  subject  of  English 
things  and  ways.  The  count's  eyes  flashed. 

"  The  English  are  the  most  brutal  nation  on 
earth  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Along  with  the  Zulus,  that 
is  to  say.  Both  go  naked :  the  Zulus  all  day  long, 
the  Englishwomen  as  soon  as  dinner  is  served.  The 
English  worship  their  muscle;  they  think  of  it,  talk 
of  it.  If  I  had  time,  I  should  like  to  write  a  book  on 
their  ways.  And  then  their  executions,  which  they 
go  to  see  as  a  pleasure  !  " 

I  asked  which  nation  was  a  model,  in  his  opinion. 

"  The  French,"  he  answered,  which  seemed  to  me 
inconsistent,  when  he  told  of  the  execution  which  he 
had  witnessed  in  Paris,  where  a  father  had  lifted  up 
his  little  child  that  it  might  have  a  good  view  of  the 
horrors  of  the  guillotine. 

"  Defective  as  is  Russian  civilization  in  many  re- 
spects," he  said,  "you  will  never  find  the  Russian 
peasant  like  that.  He  abhors  deliberate  murder,  like 
an  execution." 

"  Yet  he  will  himself  commit  murder,"  I  objected. 
"  There  has  been  a  perfect  flood  of  murders  reported 
in  the  newspapers  this  very  spring.  Those  perpe- 
trated in  town  were  all  by  men  of  the  peasant  class ; 


184  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

and  most  of  them  were  by  lads  under  twenty  years 
of  age." 

He  insisted  that  I  must  have  misread  the  pa- 
pers. So  I  proceeded  to  inquire,  "  What  will  a  peas- 
ant do  in  case  of  an  execution  ?  " 

"  He  will  murder,  but  without  premeditation. 
What  he  will  do  in  case  of  an  execution  I  can  illus- 
trate for  you  by  something  which  occurred  in  this 
very  neighborhood  some  years  ago. 

"  The  regimental  secretary  of  a  regiment  stationed 
at  Z.  was  persecuted  by  one  of  his  officers,  who  found 
fault  with  him  continually,  and  even  placed  him 
under  arrest  for  days  at  a  time,  when  the  man  had 
only  obeyed  his  own  orders.  At  last  the  secretary's 
patience  failed  him,  and  one  day  he  struck  the  offi- 
cer. A  court-martial  followed.  I  was  chosen  to  de- 
fend him.  He  was  sentenced  to  death.  I  appealed 
to  the  Emperor  through  Madame  A.,  —  you  know 
her.  For  some  reason  she  spoke  to  one  of  the  minis- 
ters. 4  You  have  not  stated  the  number  of  his  regi- 

o 

ment;  that  is  indispensable,'  was  the  reply.  Evi- 
dently this  was  a  subterfuge,  that  time  might  be 
consumed  in  correspondence,  and  the  pardon  might 
arrive  too  late.  The  reason  for  this  was,  in  all  prob- 
ability, that  just  at  this  time  a  soldier  had  struck 
an  officer  in  Moscow  and  had  been  condemned.  If 
one  were  pardoned,  in  justice  the  other  must  be  also. 
Otherwise  discipline  would  suffer.  This  coincidence 
was  awkward  for  the  secretary,  strong  as  his  case 
was,  and  he  was  shot. 

"The  adjutant's  hands  trembled  so  with  emotion 
that  lie  could  not  apply  the  bandage  to  the  prisoner's 
eyes.  Others  tried  and  gave  it  up.  Well,  as  soon  as 
that  man  was  buried  his  grave  was  covered  with  flow- 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  185 

ers,  crosses,  and  all  sorts  of  things  by  the  peasants,  who 
fame  many  versts  from  all  directions,  as  to  the  grave 
of  a  martyr.  Masses  for  the  dead  were  ordered  there, 
in  uninterrupted  succession,  by  these  poor  peasants. 
The  feeling  was  so  great  and  appeared  to  be  spread- 
ing to  such  an  extent  that  the  authorities  were  forced 
not  only  to  prohibit  access  to  the  grave,  but  even  to 
level  it  off  so  that  it  could  not  be  found.  But  an 
Englishman  !  If  he  were  told  to  cut  the  throat  of 
his  own  father  and  eat  him,  he  would  do  it." 

"  Still,  in  spite  of  your  very  striking  illustration, 
and  your  doubts  as  to  my  having  read  the  papers  cor- 
rectly," I  remarked,  "  I  am  sure  that  the  Russian 
peasant  does,  occasionally,  murder  with  premeditation. 
He  is  a  fine-tempered,  much-enduring,  admirable  fel- 
low, I  admit,  but  he  is  human.  He  cannot  be  so 
different  in  this  respect  from  all  other  races  of  men. 
Moreover,  I  have  the  testimony  of  a  celebrated  Rus- 
sian author  on  my  side." 

"  What  author  ?     What  testimony  ?  " 

"Have  you  ever  read  The 'Power  of  Darkness'? 
The  amount  of  deliberation,  of  premeditation^  in  any 
murder  is  often  a  matter  of  opinion ;  but  the  murder 
of  the  child  in  the  last  act  of  that  comedy  is  surely 
deliberate  enough  to  admit  of  no  difference  of  judg- 
ment. Don't  you  think  that  the  author  supports 
me?" 

He  gasped  at  my  audacity  in  quoting  his  own  writ- 
ings against  him,  and  retreated  into  the  silence  which 
was  his  resource  when  he  could  not  or  would  not 
answer.  Put  him  in  a  corner  and  he  would  refuse 
to  come  out. 

Beggars  used  to  come  while  we  were  eating  out- 
of-doors  ;  some  called  themselves  "  pilgrims."  The 


186  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

count  would  give  them  a  little  money,  and  they  would 
tramp  oft'  again.  One  day,  when  the  birthday  of  an 
absent  member  of  the  family  was  being  celebrated, 
and  we  were  drinking  healths  in  voditchka  (a  sort  of 
effervescent  water  flavored  with  fruit  juices),  we  had 
a  distinguished  visitor,  "Prince  Romanoff."  This 
was  the  crazy  Balakhin  mentioned  in  "  What  to 
Do?"  as  having  had  his  brain  turned  by  the  sight 
of  the  luxury  in  the  lives  of  others.  His  rags  and 
patches,  or  rather  his  conglomeration  of  patches,  sur- 
passed anything  we  had  seen  in  that  line.  One  of  the 
lads  jumped  up  and  gave  him  a  glass  of  raspberry 
voditchka,  telling  him  that  it  was  rare  old  wine.  The 
man  sipped  it,  looked  through  it,  and  pretended  (I  am 
sure  that  it  was  mere  pretense)  to  believe  that  it  was 
wine.  He  promised  us  all  large  estates  when  the 
Emperor  should  give  him  back  his  own,  now  wrong- 
fully withheld  from  him. 

Balakhin  stayed  about  the  place,  making  himself 
at  home  with  the  servants,  for  twenty-four  hours  or 
more.  I  believe  that  he  strays  about  among  the  landed 
proprietors  of  the  district  as  a  profession.  In  spite  of 
his  willingness  to  call  himself  "  Prince  Romanoff"  as 
often  as  any  one  chose  to  incite  him  thereto,  this  did 
not  impress  me  as  a  proof  that  he  was  too  deranged 
to  earn  his  ow*n  living,  with  his  healthy  frame,  if  he 
saw  fit.  I  had  observed  the  mania  for  titles  in  other 
persons  (not  all  Russians,  by  any  means)  who  would 
vigorously  resent  the  imputation  that  they  should  be 
in  a  lunatic  asylum.  Moreover,  this  imperial  "  Prince 
Romanoff "  never  forgot  his  "manners."  He  inva- 
riably rose  when  his  superiors  (or  his  inferiors,  per- 
haps I  should  say)  approached,  like  any  other  peas- 
ant, and  he  looked  far  more  crafty  than  crazy. 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  187 

As  the  peasants  were  all  busy  haying,  we  post- 
poned our  visit  to  the  village  until  the  afternoon  of 
Peter  and  Paul's  day,  in  the  hope  that  we  should 
then  find  some  of  them  at  home.  The  butler's  family 
were  drinking  tea  on  the  porch  of  their  neat  new  log 
house  with  a  tinned  roof,  at  the  end  of  the  village 
near  the  park  gate.  They  rose  and  invited  us  to 
honor  them  with  our  company  and  share  their  meal. 
We  declined,  for  lack  of  time. 

One  of  the  count's  daughters  had  told  me  of  a  cu- 
rious difference  existing  between  the  cut  of  the  aprons 
of  maidens  and  of  those  of  married  women.  I  had 
been  incredulous,  and  she  suggested  that  I  put  the 
matter  to  the  test  by  asking  the  first  married  woman 
whom  we  should  see.  We  found  a  pretty  woman, 
with  beautiful  brown  eyes  and  exquisite  teeth  (whose 
whiteness  and  soundness  are  said  to  be  the  result  of 
the  sour  black  bread  which  the  peasants  eat  exclu- 
sively), standing  at  the  door  of  her  cottage. 

"  Here  's  your  chance  !  " 

"  Show  me  your  window,  please,"  I  said. 

She  laughed,  and  turned  her  back  to  me.  There 
was  the  "  window,"  sure  enough.  The  peasant  apron, 
which  is  fastened  under  the  armpits,  is  pretty  evenly 
distributed  as  to  fullness  all  the  way  round,  and  in 
the  case  of  a  maiden  falls  in  straight  lines  in  the 
back.  But  the  married  woman  makes  hers  with  a 
semicircular  opening  a  few  inches  below  the  band. 
The  points  of  the  opening  are  connected  by  a  loop 
of  fringe,  a  couple  of  cords  not  always  tied,  or  any- 
thing that  comes  handy,  apparently  for  ornament. 
Now,  when  the  husband  feels  moved  to  demonstrate 
his  affection  for  his  spouse  by  administering  a  beat- 
ing, he  is  not  obliged  to  fumble  and  grope  among 


188  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

those  straight  folds  for  the  awkward  triangular  little 
opening,  quite  unsuited  to  accommodate  his  fist.  He 
can  grasp  her  promptly  by  the  neck  of  her  chemise 
and  this  comfortable  semicircle,  and  not  force  her  to 
doubt  his  love  by  delay  and  hesitation  in  expression. 
I  asked  the  pretty  woman  if  her  husband  found  it 
very  useful.  "  Sometimes,"  she  answered  noncha- 
lantly. The  Russian  peasant  theory  is  :  "  No  beat- 
ing, no  jealousy  ;  no  jealousy,  no  love." 

She  offered  to  sell  us  a  new  petticoat  similar  to  the 
one  which  she  wore.  It  was  of  homespun,  hard- 
twisted  wool  ^tamine^  very  durable,  of  a  sort  which  is 
made,  with  slight  variations,  in  several  governments. 
Ordinarily,  in  this  district,  it  is  of  a  bright  scarlet 
plaided  off  with  lines  of  white  and  yellow.  A  breadth 
of  dark  blue  cotton  is  always  inserted  in  the  left  side. 
When  a  woman  is  in  mourning,  the  same  plaid  on  a 
dark  blue  foundation  is  used.  Married  women  wear 
coarse  chemises  and  aprons  of  homespun  linen  ;  and 
their  braided  hair  coiled  on  top  of  the  head  imparts 
a  coronet  shape  to  the  gay  cotton  kerchief  which  is 
folded  across  the  brow  and  knotted  at  the  nape  of  the 
neck. 

Young  girls  wear  cotton  chemises  and  aprons  and 
print  dresses,  all  purchased,  not  home  made.  It  is 
considered  that  if  a  girl  performs  her  due  share  of 
the  house  and  field  work  she  will  not  have  time  to 
weave  more  than  enough  linen  for  her  wedding  outfit, 
and  the  purchase  of  what  is  needed  before  that  un- 
happy event  is  regarded  as  a  certificate  of  industry. 
I  call  it  an  unhappy  event  because  from  the  moment 
of  her  betrothal  the  prospective  bride  wears  mourn- 
ing garments.  Black  beads  for  the  neck  are  the 
height  of  fashion  here. 


COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  189 

The  girl's  gown,  called  a  sarafdn,  is  plaited  straight 
and  full  into  a  narrow  band,  and  suspended  just 
below  the  armpits  by  cross-bands  over  the  shoulders. 
She  prefers  for  it  plain  scarlet  cotton  (kumdtcli),  or 
scarlet  printed  in  designs  of  yellow,  white,  and  green. 
Her  head  kerchief  matches  in  style.  Her  betrothal 
gown  and  kerchief  have  a  dark  blue  or  black  ground 
with  colored  figures. 

The  bargain  for  the  petticoat  was  closed  at  two 
rubles,  its  real  worth,  subject  to  u  sister's  approba- 
tion,"—  an  afterthought  on  the  part  of  the  pretty 
woman.  When  she  brought  it  to  us  at  the  house, 
a  couple  of  hours  later,  modestly  concealed  under 
her  apron,  and  with  sister's  blessing,  she  demanded 
half  a  ruble  more,  because  we  had  not  beaten  her 
down,  and  perhaps  also  as  an  equivalent  for  sister's 
consent. 

She  showed  us  her  cottage,  which  was  luxurious, 
since  it  had  a  brick  half  for  winter  use,  exactly  cor- 
responding to  the  summer  half  of  logs.  Behind,  in 
a  wattled  inclosure,  were  the  animals  and  farming  im- 
plements. It  was  not  a  cheerful  dwelling,  with  its 
tiny  windows,  wall  benches  to  serve  as  seats  and  beds, 
pine  table,  images  in  the  corner,  great  whitewashed 
oven,  in  which  the  cooking  was  done,  and  on  which, 
near  the  ceiling,  they  could  sleep,  and  sheepskin  coats 
as  well  as  other  garments  lying  about. 

Practically,  a  small  Russian  village  consists  of  one 
street,  since  those  peasants  who  live  on  the  occasional 
parallel  or  side  lanes  are  "no  account  folks,"  and  not 
in  fashion.  It  seemed  inconsistent  that  ranks  and 
degrees  should  exist  in  peasant  villages ;  but  human 
nature  is  much  the  same  in  the  country  as  in  capitals, 
even  in  the  village  of  the  man  who  advocates  absolute 


190  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

equality  of  poverty,  and  despite  the  views  of  my 
merry  izvtistchik  Alexe*i. 

The  aged  mother  of  the  woman  to  whom  the 
count's  daughter  was  carrying  a  gift  of  a  new  ker- 
chief was  at  home,  and  bestowed  some  smacking 
kisses  in  thanks.  The  old  woman  even  ran  after  us 
to  discharge  another  volley  of  gratitude  on  the  young 
countess's  pretty  cheeks. 

In  the  evening  we  set  out  once  more  for  the  vil- 
lage, to  see  the  choral  dances  and  hear  the  songs  with 
which  the  peasants  celebrate  their  holidays.  A  dozen 
or  so  of  small  peasant  girls,  pupils  of  the  count's 
daughter,  who  had  invited  themselves  to  swing  on 
the  Giant  Steps  on  the  lawn  opposite  the  count's 
study  windows,  abandoned  their  amusement  and  ac- 
companied us  down  the  avenue,  fairly  howling  an 
endless  song  in  shrill  voices  that  went  through  one's 
nerves. 

As  we  emerged  from  the  shadows  of  the  avenue 
and  proceeded  up  the  broad,  grassy  village  street  to 
the  place  of  assembly,  the  children  dispersed.  A 
crowd  was  collected  at  a  fairly  level  spot  ready  for 
the  dancing.  All  wore  their  gayest  clothes.  The 
full  moon,  with  brilliant  Jupiter  close  beside  her, 
furnished  an  ideally  picturesque  light,  and  displayed 
the  scene  to  the  greatest  advantage.  Low  gray  cot- 
tages framed  the  whole. 

It  was  a  grand  occasion.  One  of  the  count's  sons 
had  brought  his  violin,  his  cousin  had  a  balalaika,  a 
triangular  peasant  guitar,  and  one  of  the  lackeys  had 
his  harmonica,  to  play  for  the  dancing.  The  young 
men  sat  on  a  rough  improvised  bench  ;  the  servant 
stood  beside  them.  The  peasants  seemed  shy.  They 
hesitated  and  argued  a  good  deal  over  beginning  each 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  191 

song.  Finally  they  joined  hands  and  circled  slowly 
to  the  tones  of  the  generally  monotonous  airs.  Some 
of  the  melodies  were  lively  and  pleasing,  but  the 
Great  Russian  peasant  woman's  voice  is  undeniably 
shrill.  The  dancing,  when  some  bold  peasant  ven- 
tured to  enter  the  circle,  after  much  urging  and  push- 
ing, was  far  tamer  and  more  unvarying  than  I  had 
seen  elsewhere.  We  felt  very  grateful  to  our  maid, 
Tatiana,  for  stepping  forward  with  spirit  and  giving 
us  a  touch  of  the  genuine  thing. 

Alas !  the  fruits  of  Tatiana' s  civilization  were  but 
too  visible  in  her  gown  of  yellow  print  flounced  to 
the  waist  and  with  a  tight-fitting  bodice.  The  peas- 
ant costume  suits  the  dance  far  better.  Her  part- 
ner was  unworthy  of  her,  and  did  not  perform  the 
squat -and -leap  step  in  proper  form.  She  needed 
Fomitch,  the  butler,  who  had  been  obliged  to  stay 
at  home  and  serve  tea ;  to  his  regret,  no  doubt,  since 
we  were  informed  that  uhe  danced  as  though  he  had 
ten  devils  in  his  body."  As  we  saw  no  prospect  of 
any  devils  at  all,  —  and  they  are  very  necessary  for 
the  proper  dash  in  Russian  dancing,  —  we  strolled 
home,  past  the  pond  where  the  women  were  wont  to 
wash  their  clothes,  and  up  the  dark  avenue.  Per- 
haps the  requisite  demons  arrived  after  our  departure. 
It  was  a  characteristic  scene,  and  one  not  readily  to 
be  forgotten. 

One  of  the  most  enjoyable  incidents  of  the  even- 
ing was  the  rehearsal  of  the  maid's  coquettish  steps 
and  graces  given  by  one  of  our  young  hostesses  for 
the  benefit  of  those  members  of  the  family  who  had 
not  been  present.  It  reminded  us  of  the  scene  in 
"  War  and  Peace  "  after  the  hunt,  when  charming 
young  Countess  Natalya  Ilinitchna  astonishes  her 


192  COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

old  relative  by  her  artistic  performance  of  the  Rus- 
sian dance,  which  she  must  have  inherited  with  the 
traditions  of  her  native  land,  since  she  had  never 
learned  it. 

Balalaika  duets  were  one  of  the  joys  of  our  even- 
ings under  the  trees,  after  dinner.  The  young  men 
played  extremely  well,  and  the  popular  airs  were 
fascinating.  Our  favorite  was  the  "  Barynya-Suda- 
rynya,"  which  invariably  brings  out  volleys  of  laughter 
and  plaudits  when  it  is  sung  on  the  stage.  Even  a 
person  who  hears  it  played  for  the  first  time  and  is 
ignorant  of  the  words  is  constrained  to  laughter  by 
the  merry  air.  In  the  evenings  there  were  also  hare- 
and-hounds  hunts  through  the  meadows  and  forests, 
bonfires  over  which  the  younger  members  of  the 
family  jumped  in  peasant  fashion,  and  other  amuse- 
ments. 

In  consequence  of  vegetarian  indiscretions  and 
of  trifling  with  his  health  in  other  ways  during  the 
exceptionally  hot  weather  then  prevailing,  the  count 
fell  ill.  When  he  got  about  a  little  he  delighted  to 
talk  of  death.  He  said  he  felt  that  Jie  was  not  going 
to  live  long,  and  was  glad  of  it.  He  asked  what  we 
thought  of  death  and  the  other  world,  declaring  that 
the  future  life  must  be  far  better  than  this,  though 
in  what  it  consisted  he  could  not  feel  any  certainty. 
Naturally  he  did  not  agree  with  our  view,  that  for 
the  lucky  ones  this  world  provides  a  very  fair  idea 
of  heaven,  because  his  ideal  was  not  happiness  for 
all,  but  misery  for  all.  He  will  be  forced  to  revise 
this  ideal  if  he  ever  really  comes  to  believe  in  heaven. 

During  this  illness  I  persuaded  him  to  read  "  Look- 
ing Backward,"  which  I  had  received  as  I  was  leav- 
ing Moscow.  When  I  presented  it  to  him,  he  prom- 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  193 

ised  to  examine  it  "some  time;"  but  when  I  give 
books  I  like  to  hear  the  opinion  of  the  recipient  in 
detail,  and  I  had  had  experience  when  I  gave  him 
"  Robert  Elsmere."  Especially  in  this  case  was  I 
anxious  to  discuss  the  work. 

At  first  he  was  very  favorably  impressed,  and  said 
that  he  would  translate  the  book  into  Russian.  He 
believed  that  this  was  the  true  way :  that  people 
should  have,  literally,  all  things  in  common,  and  so 
on.  I  replied  that  matters  would  never  arrive  at  the 
state  described  unless  this  planet  were  visited  by  an- 
other deluge,  and  neither  Noah  nor  any  other  animal 
endowed  with  the  present  human  attributes  saved  to 
continue  this  selfish  species.  I  declared  that  nothing 
short  of  a  new  planet,  Utopia,  and  a  newly  created, 
selected,  and  combined  race  of  Utopian  angels,  would 
ever  get  as  far  as  the  personages  in  that  book,  not 
to  speak  of  remaining  in  equilibrium  on  that  dizzy 
point  when  it  should  have  been  once  attained.  He 
disagreed  with  me,  and  an  argument  royal  ensued. 
In  the  course  of  it  he  said  that  his  only  objection 
lay  in  the  degree  of  luxury  in  which  the  characters 
of  the  new  perfection  lived. 

"  What  harm  is  there  in  comfort  and  luxury  to  any 
extent,"  I  asked,  "  provided  that  all  enjoy  it  ?  " 

"  Luxury  is  all  wrong,"  he  answered  severely. 
"  You  perceive  the  sinful  luxury  in  which  I  live," 
waving  his  hand  toward  the  excessively  plain  furni- 
ture, and  animadverting  with  special  bitterness  on 
the  silver  forks  and  spoons.  "It  is  all  a  fallacy  that 
we  can  raise  those  below  us  by  remaining  above  them. 
We  must  descend  to  their  level  in  habits,  intelligence, 
and  life  ;  then  all  will  rise  together." 

44  Even  bread  must  have  yeast;  and  if  we  all  make 


194  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

ourselves  exactly  alike,  who  is  to  act  as  yeast  ?  Are 
we  to  adopt  all  vices  of  the  lower  classes?  That 
would  be  the  speediest  way  of  putting  ourselves  on  a 
complete  equality  with  them.  But  if  some  of  us  do 
not  remain  yeast,  we  shall  all  turn  out  the  flattest 
sort  of  dough." 

"  We  certainly  cannot  change  the  position  of  a 
thing  unless  we  go  close  enough  to  grasp  it,  unless 
we  are  on  the  same  plane  with  it." 

"  Perhaps  not ;  but  being  on  the  same  plane  does 
not  always  answer.  Did  you  ever  see  an  acrobat  try 
that  trick?  He  puts  one  leg  on  the  table,  then  tries 
to  lift  his  whole  body  by  grasping  the  other  leg 
and  putting  it  on  a  level  to  begin  with.  Logically, 
it  ought  to  succeed  and  carry  the  body  with  it,  if 
your  theory  is  correct.  However,  it  remains  merely 
a  curious  and  amusing  experiment,  likely  to  result 
in  a  broken  neck  to  any  one  not  skilled  in  gymnas- 
tics, and  certain  to  end  in  a  tumble  even  for  the  one 
who  is  thus  skilled." 

He  reiterated  his  arguments.  I  retorted  that  hu- 
man beings  were  not  moral  kangaroos,  who  could 
proceed  by  leaps,  and  that  even  the  kangaroo  is 
obliged  to  allow  the  tip  of  his  tail  to  follow  his 
paws.  I  said  that  in  the  moral  as  well  as  in  the 
physical  world  it  is  simply  a  choice  between  stand- 
ing still  and  putting  one  foot  before  the  other ;  that 
one  cannot  get  upstairs  by  remaining  on  the  bottom 
step  ;  one  member  of  the  body  must  rise  first. 

We  were  obliged  to  agree  to  disagree,  as  usual, 
but  I  fancy  that  he  may  have  changed  to  my  opin- 
ion of  the  book  and  the  subject  by  this  time.  I  have 
already  noted  that  he  is  open  to  influence. 

One  evening,  as  we  sat  on  the  steps  of  the  uncov- 


COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  195 

ered  terrace  outside  his  study,  the  conversation  fell 
on  the  book  which  he  was  then  engaged  upon,  and 
which  the  countess  had  shown  us  that  she  was  copy- 
ing for  the  fourth  time.  He  had  been  busy  on  it  for 
two  years.  Neither  of  them  went  into  details  nor 
mentioned  the  plot,  but  I  had  heard  on  my  arrival  in 
Russia,  twenty  months  previously,  that  it  related  to 
the  murder  of  a  woman  by  her  husband,  and  had  a 
railway  scene  in  it.  I  did  not  interrogate  them,  and 
when  the  count  said  that  he  hoped  I  would  translate 
the  book  when  it  should  be  finished  I  accepted  the 
proposal  with  alacrity.  I  inquired  whether  I  was  to 
read  it  then. 

"  You  may  if  you  wish,"  was  the  reply,  "  but  I 
shall  probably  make  some  changes,  and  I  should  pre- 
fer that  you  would  wait;  but  that  shall  be  as  you 
please." 

His  wife  said  that  he  might  suddenly  take  a  fancy 
to  view  the  subject  from  an  entirely  different  point, 
and  write  the  book  all  over. 

I  declined  to  anticipate  my  future  pleasure  by  even 
glancing  at  it,  and  I  asked  no  questions.  Neither 
did  I  ask  to  see  "  The  Fruits  of  Civilization,"  which 
was  already  written  and  named.  I  was  not  there  to 
exploit  their  hospitality. 

The  count  and  his  wife  differed  as  to  what  ought 
to  be  the  fate  of  the  coming  volume.  He  wished  to 
give  it  to  the  world  (that  is,  to  some  publisher)  for 
nothing.  She  argued  that  some  one,  the  publisher  at 
least,  would  make  money  out  of  it ;  then  why  not  let 
his  own  family  have  the  profit,  as  was  just?  He  in- 
sisted that  it  was  wrong,  inconsistent,  in  the  same 
strain  as  he  discusses  the  subject  of  his  writings  in 
"What  to  Do?"  But  she  urged  him,  in  case  he 


196  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

would  not  consent  to  justice,  to  leave  the  manuscript 
•with  her,  unpublished,  so  that  the  family  could  u^e 
it  after  his  death.  (When  the  book  was  ready  it 
was  named  "  The  Kreutzer  Sonata.") 

I  think  that  every  one  must  side  with  the  countess 
in  her  view  of  this  matter  and  in  her  management 
of  the  family.  It  is  owing  solely  to  her  that  the 
younger  members  of  the  family  are  receiving  that 
education  to  fit  them  for  their  struggle  with  life 
which  her  husband  bestowed  upon  the  elder  members 
voluntarily.  It  is  due  to  her  alone,  also,  that  her 
husband  is  still  alive.  It  is  not  an  easy  task  to  pro- 
tect the  count  against  himself.  One  adds  to  one's 
admiration  for  the  count's  literary  genius  an  admira- 
tion for  the  countess's  talent  and  good  sense  by  an 
extended  acquaintance  with  this  family. 

More  than  one  community  has  been  organized  for 
the  express  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  life  of  toil 
which  Count  Tolstoy  has  advocated  at  times.  One 
of  these  communities,  of  which  I  had  direct  informa- 
tion, purchased  an  estate  of  a  landed  proprietor,  in- 
cluding the  manor  house,  and  began  to  work.  This 
acquisition  of  an  estate  by  them,  while  the  count 
would  like  to  give  away  his  as  sinful  to  retain,  does  not 
strike  one  as  a  good  beginning.  However,  they  did 
not  use  the  manor  house,  but  lived  in  one  small  peas- 
ant hut.  "  They  all  slept  on  the  floor  and  benches, 
men  and  women,"  said  a  Russian  to  me.  A  wealthy 
man  had  sold  his  property  to  join  this  community 
against  the  wishes  of  his  wife,  who  accompanied  him, 
nevertheless.  When  her  baby  came,  they  allowed 
her  to  occupy  a  room  in  the  mansion  and  required  no 
work  from  her,  since  she  had  the  care  of  the  child. 
"  They  never  swept  or  scrubbed  anything,  and  they 


COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  197 

propagated  every  insect  known  to  man,  and  probably 
a  few  new  ones."  But  the  count  lias  never  preached 
tliis  doctrine,  or  that  an  indefinite  number  of  persons 
should  occupy  a  single  cottage.  Thus  do  his  too  en- 
thusiastic disciples  discredit  him  by  running  into 
excesses. 

So  far  as  he  is  concerned,  there  is  not  the  slightest 
doubt  that  he  would  gladly  attempt  the  life  which 
he  advocates.  But  if  he  were  to  take  up  his  resi- 
dence in  a  peasant's  cottage,  and  try  to  support  him- 
self on  what  his  labors  brought  in  exclusively,  he 
would  be  dead  in  less  than  a  month.  He  suffers 
from  liver  disease ;  he  has  not  been  used  to  hard 
labor  from  early  youth ;  he  cannot,  at  his  age,  accus- 
tom himself  to  it  any  more  than  he  can  compel  his 
stomach  to  accept  a  purely  vegetable  diet  in  place  of 
the  meat  diet  on  which  he  has  been  brought  up.  He 
strives  conscientiously  to  do  it.  Even  the  fits  of  ill- 
ness caused  by  his  severe  treatment  of  himself  do 
not  break  his  spirit.  He  exercises  not  the  slightest 
calculation  or  forethought  in  the  care  of  his  health, 
either  before  it  breaks  down  or  afterwards.  For  ex- 
ample :  about  five  years  ago  he  bruised  his  leg  seri- 
ously against  the  wheel  of  a  peasant  cart.  Instead 
of  resting  it,  he  persisted  in  working.  Erysipelas 
developed.  The  Tula  doctor  paid  him  numerous 
visits,  at  fifteen  rubles  a  visit.  Then  gangrene 
threatened,  and  a  doctor  was  sent  for  from  Moscow. 
He  was  a  celebrity  ;  price  three  hundred  and  fifty 
rubles.  This  was  penny  wise  and  pound  foolish,  of 
course.  But  in  all  probability  the  count  feels  the  re- 
sponsibility of  exerting  his  will  in  this  matter  of 
labor  all  the  more  because  it  does  not  come  easy  to 
him,  and  he  attributes  to  weakness  of  will  power 


198  COUNT   TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

what  a  peasant  would  recognize  as  simple  physical 
exhaustion.  The  peasant  would  not  hesitate  to  climb 
to  the  top  of  his  oven  and  stay  there  until  his  ill- 
ness was  over,  with  not  a  thought  whether  the  work 
were  done  or  not;  and  yet  the  peasant  would  work 
far  beyond  the  bounds  of  what  one  would  suppose 
that  a  man  could  endure.  But  Count  Tolstoy  over- 
rates his  powers  of  endurance,  and,  having  exhausted 
his  forces  in  one  desperate  spurt,  he  is  naturally 
obliged  to  spend  more  than  a  corresponding  amount 
of  time  in  recuperating,  even  if  no  serious  complica- 
tion intervenes ;  and  this  gives  rise  to  the  accusation 
of  laziness  and  insincerity  from  those  who  chance  to 
see  him  in  one  of  these  intervals  of  rest. 

Another  point  which  is  too  often  lost  sight  of  by 
people  who  disapprove  of  his  labor  theories  is  that, 
while  he  advocates  living  in  all  respects  like  a  peas- 
ant, descending  to  that  level  in  mind  as  well  as  in 
body,  which  doctrine  seems  to  include  the  incessant 
toil  of  the  masses,  he  has  also  announced  his  theory 
that  men  should  divide  their  time  each  day  between 
(1)  hard  labor  unto  perspiration  and  callosities  ;  (2) 
the  exercise  of  some  useful  handicraft;  (3)  exercise 
of  the  brain  in  writing  and  reading;  (4)  social  in- 
tercourse; sixteen  hours  in  all.  This  is  not  a  pro- 
gramme which  a  peasant  could  follow  out.  In  sum- 
mer, during  the  "  suffering"  season,  the  peasant  toils 
in  the  fields  for  nearly  the  whole  of  the  twenty-four 
hours  instead  of  the  four  thus  allotted.  In  winter, 
when  no  field  labor  is  possible,  he  is  likely  to  spend 
much  more  than  four  hours  at  whatever  remunera- 
tive handicraft  he  may  be  acquainted  with,  or  in  in- 
tercourse with  his  fellow-men  (detrimental  as  likely 
as  not),  and  a  good  deal  less  in  reading  at  any  season 


COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  199 

of  the  year,  for  lack  of  instruction,  interest,  or  books. 
On  the  other  hand,  this  reasonable  regime  is  not 
practicable  for  many  men  of  othrr  than  peasant 
rank.  It  happens  to  be  perfectly  practicable  for 
Count  Tolst6y  when  his  health  permits.  But  as  he 
has  also  said  much  about  doing  everything  for  one's 
self,  earning  in  some  form  of  common  labor  all  that 
one  spends,  those  who  remember  this  only,  and  who 
know  how  little  can  be  earned  by  a  whole  day's  toil 
in  Russia,  not  to  mention  toil  divided  between  two 
branches,  which  agriculture  does  not  permit,  are  not 
altogether  to  blame  for  jumping  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  count  makes  no  effort  to  practice  what  he 
preaches.  He  does  what  he  can.  He  is  reproached 
with  having  made  over  his  property  to  his  wife  and 
with  living  as  before.  It  is  really  difficult  to  see 
what  other  course  is  open  to  him.  An  unmarried 
man,  under  obligations  to  no  one  but  himself,  may 
reasonably  be  blamed  for  not  carrying  out  the  doc- 
trine which  he  volunteers  to  teach  the  world.  A 
married  man  can  only  be  blamed  for  volunteering  the 
doctrine.  No  blame  can  possibly  attach  to  the  wife 
who  defends  the  interest  of  the  family  to  the  extent 
of  working  havoc  with  his  doctrines. 

Even  if  Count  Tolst6y  were  able  to  support  him- 
self, he  certainly  could  not  support  a  wife  and  the 
nine  living  children  out  of  sixteen  which  he  has  had. 
There  is  no  justice  in  expecting  the  adult  members 
of  the  family  to  accept  and  practice  his  doctrines. 
They  do  not  compel  him  to  accept  theirs,  though 
they  are  in  the  majority.  The  little  ones  could  not 
feed  themselves,  even  were  they  ideni  peasant  chil- 
dren. It  would  be  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  the 
countess  has  taken  possession  of  the  property  ;  she 


200  COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

administers  it  wisely  and  economically,  for  the  good 
of  the  family  and  her  husband.  She  issued,  about 
five  years  ago,  a  cheaper  edition  of  her  husband's 
works,  the  only  edition  available  hitherto  having 
been  very  expensive.  The  wisdom  of  her  step  was 
proved  by  the  large  profits  derived  from  it  in  the 
course  of  three  years,  —  fifty  thousand  dollars,  —  all 
of  which  was  applied  to  the  needs  of  the  family. 

The  count  is  not  the  only  one  at  Yasnaya  Polyana 
to  deny  himself.  For  the  past  two  winters  the  whole 
family  have  remained  on  the  estate,  and  have  not 
gone  to  Moscow,  with  the  exception  of  one  who  is 
in  business  at  the  capital,  one  member  who  is  at 
his  studies,  and  one  who  is  married  and  resides  on 
another  estate.  This  is  because  the  income  did  not 
amount  to  a  certain  sum,  a  very  moderate  sum  in 
American  eyes,  without  which  a  stay  in  town  would 
have  been  imprudent. 

The  question  naturally  follows:  If  the  countess 
holds  the  property,  and  the  count  continues  to  get 
the  good  of  it,  in  a  modest  way ;  if  the  count  does 
not  do  everything  for  himself,  and  earn  his  daily 
bread  by  manual  toil,  is  not  he  mentally  unbalanced 
to  proclaim  his  theories  to  the  world,  and  to  change 
his  mind  so  often  on  other  points? 

The  answer  is :  No.  Undoubtedly  the  count,  when 
he  attained  to  his  convictions  on  the  subject  of  pov- 
erty and  labor,  hoped  to  carry  his  family  with  him. 
The  countess,  like  a  brave  woman,  like  a  devoted 
wife  and  mother,  refused  to  adopt  his  views.  She  is 
willing  to  shoulder  the  responsibility  of  her  refusal, 
and  her  conduct  is  an  honor  to  her.  As  for  his 
changes  of  doctrine,  we  are  all  very  much  like  him 
in  the  matter  of  inconsistency.  Only,  as  very  few 


COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME.  201 

of  us  enjoy  the  renown  or  the  authority  of  Count 
Tolst6y,  it  rarely  occurs  to  us  to  proclaim  our  pro- 
gressive opinions  to  the  world  ;  at  most,  one  or  two 
experiences  cure  us  of  that  weakness,  even  if  any  one 
thinks  it  worth  while  to  notice  them  in  the  slightest 
degree.  Very  few  of  us  are  so  deeply  rooted  in  our 
convictions,  or  so  impressed  with  their  importance 
to  the  world  as  principles,  that  we  will  raise  a  finger 
to  defend  them.  We  alternately  know  that  we  shall 
never  change  them  again,  and  suspect  that  we  may 
see  something  better  at  any  moment ;  and  we  re- 
frain from  committing  ourselves  unnecessarily  in  any 
form  which  can  be  brought  up  against  us  hereafter. 

The  case  is  precisely  the  reverse  with  Count  Tol- 
stoy. He  is  so  full  of  the  missionary  spirit,  so  per- 
suaded of  the  truth  and  value  of  his  beliefs,  that  he 
rushes  into  print  with  them  instantly.  There  they 
are,  all  ready  for  those  who  do  not  sympathize  with 
him  to  use  as  missiles  when  he  gets  a  new  inspira- 
tion. Change  of  opinion  is  generally  progress.  Con- 
tinuity, an  absolute  lack  of  change,  means  stagnation 
and  death  in  the  mental  as  well  as  in  the  physical 
world.  As  the  count  is  impressible  and  reads  much, 
his  reading  and  meditation  are  fruitful  of  novelties, 
which  he  bravely  submits  to  the  judgment  of  the 
world  without  pausing  to  consider  whether  they  coin- 
cide with  his  other  utterances  or  not.  That  he  does 
not  always  express  his  abstract  ideas  clearly  is  the 
inevitable  result  of  the  lack  of  philosophical  training. 

But  enthusiastic  souls  who  grieve  over  the  imper- 
fections in  the  present  organization  of  society  are 
always  waiting  for  some  one  of  warmer  zeal  to  lead 
them.  Such  persons  perceive  the  ideal  side  of  every 
argument,  interpret  doctrines  with  their  hearts,  not 


202  COUNT  TOLSTOY  AT  HOME. 

with  their  heads,  and  are  fired  by  the  newest  con- 
ception of  social  relations.  As  one  of  the  most 
marked  characteristics  of  Count  Tolst6y  lies  in  in- 
fusing his  own  personality  into  every  word  he  writes, 
it  is  only  natural  that  these  people  should  adopt 
him  as  their  guide.  It  is  not  the  fault  of  any  one 
in  particular  that  he  has  abandoned  a  doctrine  by 
the  time  others  have  mastered  it.  The  only  refuge 
is  in  the  cry  of  Hamlet :  — 

"  The  time  is  out  of  joint ;  O  cursed  spite ! 
That  ever  I  was  born  to  set  it  right." 

Thus  much  I  think  I  may  say  of  the  home  life  of 
the  famous  Russian  writer  without  sinning  against 
the  duties  imposed  by  the  frank  and  cordial  hospi- 
tality for  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  family.  It 
has  seemed  time  to  enter  a  protest  against  various 
misrepresentations  and  misconceptions  in  regard  to 
them  which  are  current.  In  conclusion,  I  beg  leave 
to  explain  that  my  spelling  of  the  name  is  that  used 
by  themselves  when  writing  in  English,  and  in  print 
upon  their  French  cards. 


IX. 

A  EUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

IT  was  close  on  midnight  when  we  left  Yasnaya 
Poly&na.  A  large  and  merry  party  of  Count  Tol- 
st6y's  children  and  relatives  escorted  us :  some  in  the 
baggage  cart,  perched  on  our  luggage ;  some  in  the 
jaunting-car-like  lineika  with  us,  on  our  moonlight 
drive  to  the  litt'le  station  where  we  were  to  join  the 
train  and  continue  our  journey  southward. 

We  should  have  preferred  to  travel  by  daylight, 
as  we  were  possessed  of  the  genuine  tourist  greed  for 
seeing  "everything  ;"  but  in  this  case,  as  in  many 
others  in  Russia,  the  trains  were  not  arranged  so  that 
we  could  manage  it. 

There  is  very  little  variety  along  the  road  through 
central  Russia,  but  the  monotony  is  of  a  different 
character  from  that  of  the  harsh  soil  and  the  birch 
and  pine  forests  of  the  north.  The  vast  plains  of 
this  tchernozyom  —  the  celebrated  "  black  earth 
zone" — swell  in  long,  low  billows  of  herbage  and 
grain,  diversified  only  at  distant  intervals  by  tracts 
of  woodland.  But  the  wood  is  too  scarce  to  meet  the 
demands  for  fuel,  and  the  manure  of  the  cattle,  well 
dried,  serves  to  eke  it  out,  a  traveling  native  in  our 
compartment  told  us,  instead  of  being  used,  as  it 
should  be,  to  enrich  the  land,  which  is  growing  poor. 
Now  and  then,  substantial  brick  cottages  shone  out 
amidst  the  gray  and  yellow  of  the  thatched  log  huts 


204  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

in  the  hamlets.  We  heard  of  one  landed  proprietor 
who  encouraged  his  peasant  neighbors  to  avoid  the 
scourge  of  frequent  conflagrations  by  building  with 
brick,  and  he  offered  a  prize  to  every  individual  who 
should  comply  with  the  conditions.  The  prize  con- 
sisted of  a  horse  from  the  proprietor's  stables,  and  of 
the  proprietor's  presence,  in  full  uniform  and  all  his 
orders,  at  the  house-warming.  The  advantages  of 
brick  soon  became  so  apparent  to  the  peasants  that 
they  continued  to  employ  it,  even  after  their  patron 
had  been  forced  to  abolish  the  reward,  lest  his  horses 
and  his  time  should  be  utterly  exhausted. 

Minor  incidents  were  not  lacking  to  enliven  our 
long  journey.  In  the  course  of  one  of  the  usual  long 
halts  at  a  county  town,  a  beggar  came  to  the  win- 
dow of  our  carriage.  He  was  a  tall,  slender  young 
fellow,  about  seven-and-twenty  years  of  age.  Though 
he  used  the  customary  forms,  —  "  Give  me  something, 
suddrynya.}  if  only  a  few  kopeks,  Khrista  rddi/"* 
there  was  something  about  him,  despite  his  rags, 
there  was  an  elegance  of  accent  in  his  language,  to 
which  I  was  not  accustomed  in  the  "  poor  brethren  " 
generally. 

I  pretended  ignorance  of  Russian  and  the  sign  lan- 
guage, but  watched  him  as  I  continued  my  conversa- 
tion in  English.  Thereupon  my  man  repeated  his 
demands  in  excellent  French,  with  a  good  accent.  I 
turned  on  him. 

"  This  is  unusual,"  I  said  in  Russian,  by  way  of 
hinting  that  I  belonged  to  the  category  of  the  will- 
fully deaf.  "  Accept  my  compliments  on  your  know- 
ledge of  French  and  of  Russian.  But  be  so  good  as 
to  explain  to  me  this  mystery  before  I  contribute." 
1  Madam.  •  2  For  Christ's  sake. 


A  RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  205 

"  Madam,"  he  retorted,  "  I  'd  have  you  know  that 
I  am  a  gentleman,  —  a  gentleman  of  education." 

"  Then  pray  solve  the  other  mystery,  —  why  you, 
strong,  young,  healthy,  handsome,  are  a  professional 
beggar." 

He  stalked  off  in  a  huff.  Evidently  he  was  one  of 
that  class  of  "  decayed  nobles  "  of  whom  I  had  heard 
many  curious  tales  in  Moscow;  only  he  had  decayed 
at  a  rather  earlier  age  than  the  average. 

As  we  proceeded  southward,  pretty  Little  Russian 
girls  took  the  place  of  the  plainer-featured  Great 
Russian  maidens.  Familiar  plants  caught  our  eyes. 
Mulleins — "imperial  sceptre"  is  the  pretty  Russian 
name  —  began  to  do  sentinel  duty  along  the  road- 
side ;  sumach  appeared  in  the  thickets  of  the  forests, 
where  the  graceful  cut-leaved  birch  of  the  north  was 
rare.  The  Lombardy  poplar,  the  favorite  of  the 
Little  Russian  poets,  reared  its  dark  columns  in  soli- 
tary state.  At  last,  Kieff,  the  Holy  City,  loomed 
before  us  in  the  distance. 

I  know  no  town  in  Russia  which  makes  so  pictur- 
esque and  characteristic  an  impression  on  the  traveler 
as  Kieff.  From  the  boundless  plain  over  which 
we  were  speeding,  we  gazed  up  at  wooded  heights 
crowned  and  dotted  with  churches.  At  the  foot  of 
the  slope,  where  golden  domes  and  crosses,  snowy 
white  monasteries  and  battlemented  walls,  gleamed 
among  masses  of  foliage  punctuated  with  poplars, 
swept  the  broad  Dnye"pr.  It  did  not  seem  difficult 
then  to  enter  into  the  feelings  of  Prince  Oleg  when 
he  reached  the  infant  town,  on  his  expedition  from 
unfertile  N6vgorod  the  Great,  of  the  north,  against 
Byzantium,  and,  coveting  its  rich  beauty,  slew  its 
rulers  and  entered  into  possession,  saying,  "  This 


206  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

shall  be  the  Mother  of  all  Russian  Cities."  We 
could  understand  the  sentiments  of  the  pilgrims  who 
flock  to  the  Holy  City  by  the  million. 

The  agreeable  sensation  of  approach  being  over, 
our  expectations,  which  had  been  waxing  as  the  train 
threaded  its  way  through  a  ravine  to  the  station, 
received  a  shock.  It  was  the  shock  to  which  we 
were  continually  being  subjected  whenever  we  made 
pious  pilgrimages  to  places  of  historic  renown.  On 
each  occasion  of  this  sort  we  were  moved  to  reflect 
deeply  on  the  proverbial  blessings  of  ignorance.  It 
makes  a  vast  difference  in  one's  mental  comfort,  I 
find,  whether  he  accepts  the  present  unquestioningly, 
with  enthusiasm,  and  reconstructs  the  historic  past 
as  an  agreeable  duty,  or  whether  he  already  bears 
the  past,  in  its  various  aspects,  in  his  mind,  in  invol- 
untary but  irrational  expectation  of  meeting  it,  and 
is  forced  to  accept  the  present  as  a  painful  task ! 
Which  of  these  courses  to  pursue  in  the  future  was 
the  subject  of  my  disappointed  meditations,  as  we 
drove  through  the  too  Europeanized  streets,  and 
landed  at  a  hotel  of  the  same  pattern.  It  is  easy  to 
forgive  St.  Petersburg,  in  its  giddy  youth  of  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  winters,  for  its  Western  fea- 
tures and  comforts  ;  but  that  Kieff,  in  its  venerable 
maturity  of  a  thousand  summers,  should  be  so  spick 
and  span  with  newness  and  reformation  seemed  at 
first  utterly  unpardonable.  The  inhabitants  think 
otherwise,  no  doubt,  and  deplore  the  mediaeval  hy- 
gienic conditions  which  render  the  town  the  most 
unhealthy  in  Europe,  in  the  matter  of  the  death-rate 
from  infectious  diseases. 

Our  comfortable  hotel  possessed  not  a  single  char- 
acteristic feature,  except  a  line  on  the  printed  pla- 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  207 

card  of  regulations  posted  in  each  room.  The  line 
said,  "  The  price  of  this  room  is  four  rubles  [or 
whatever  it  was]  a  day,  except  in  Contract  Time." 
"  Contract  Time,"  I  found,  meant  the  Annual  Fair, 
in  February,  when  the  normal  population  of  about 
one  hundred  and  sixty-six  thousand  is  swelled  by 
"arrivers" —  as  travelers  are  commonly  designated 
on  the  signboards  of  the  lower-class  hotels  —  from 
all  the  country  round  about.  When,  prompted  by 
this  remarkable  warning,  I  inquired  the  prices  during 
the  fair,  the  clerk  replied  sweetly,  —  no  other  word 
will  do  justice  to  his  manner,  —  "  All  we  can  get !  " 
Such  frankness  is  what  the  French  call  "  brutal." 

The  principal  street  of  the  town,  the  Krestchdtik, 
formerly  the  bed  of  a  stream,  in  front  of  our  win- 
dows, was  in  the  throes  of  sewer-building.  More 
civilization !  Sewage  from  the  higher  land  had 
lodged  there  in  temporary  pools.  The  weather  was 
very  hot.  The  fine  large  yellow  bricks,  furnished 
by  the  local  clay-beds,  of  which  the  buildings  and 
sidewalks  were  made,  were  dazzling  with  heat.  It 
is  only  when  one  leaves  the  low-lying  new  town, 
and  ascends  the  hills,  on  which  the  old  dwellers 
wisely  built,  or  reaches  the  suburbs,  that  one  begins 
thoroughly  to  comprehend  the  enthusiastic  praises  of 
many  Russians  who  regard  Kieff  as  the  most  beauti- 
ful town  in  the  empire. 

The  glare  of  the  yellow  brick  melts  softly  into  the 
verdure  of  the  residence  quarter,  and  is  tempered 
into  inoffensive  ness  in  the  Old  Town  by  the  admix- 
ture of  older  and  plainer  structures,  which  refresh 
the  eye.  But  the  chief  charm,  unfailing,  inexhausti- 
ble as  the  sight  of  the  ocean,  is  the  view  from  the 
cliffs.  Beyond  the  silver  sweep  of  the  river  at  their 


208  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

feet,  animated  with  steamers  and  small  boats, 
stretches  the  illimitable  steppe,  where  the  purple 
and  emerald  shadows  of  the  sea  depths  and  shallows 
are  enriched  with  hues  of  golden  or  velvet  brown 
and  misty  blue.  The  steppe  is  no  longer  an  un- 
broken expanse  of  waving  plume-grass  and  flowers, 
wherein  riders  and  horses  are  lost  to  sight  as,  in 
Gogol's  celebrated  tale,  were  Taras  Bulba  and  his 
sons,  fresh  from  the  famous  Academy  of  Kieff,  which 
lies  at  our  feet,  below  the  cliffs.  Increasing  popula- 
tion has  converted  this  virgin  soil  into  vast  grain- 
fields,  less  picturesque  near  at  hand  than  the  wild 
growth,  but  still  deserving,  from  afar,  of  Gogol's 
enraptured  apostrophe :  "  Devil  take  you,  steppe, 
how  beautiful  you  are  !  " 

Naturally,  our  first  pilgrimage  was  to  the  famous 
Kievo-Petche'rskaya  Ldvra,  that  is,  the  First-Class 
Monastery  of  the  Kieff  Catacombs,  the  chief  monas- 
tic institution  and  goal  of  pilgrims  in  all  the  country, 
of  which  we  had  caught  a  glimpse  from  the  opposite 
shore  of  the  river,  as  we  approached  the  town. 
Buildings  have  not  extended  so  densely  in  this  direc- 
tion but  that  a  semblance  of  ascetic  retirement  is 
still  preserved.  Between  the  monastery  and  the  city 
lies  the  city  park,  which  is  not  much  patronized  by 
the  citizens,  and  for  good  reasons.  To  the  rich  wild- 
ness  of  nature  is  added  the  wildness  of  man.  Hordes 
of  desperadoes,  "  the  barefoot  brigade,"  the  dregs  of 
the  local  population,  have  taken  up  their  residence 
there  every  spring,  of  late  years,  in  the  ravines  and 
the  caves  which  they  have  excavated,  in  humble 
imitation  of  the  holy  men  of  the  monastery  of  old. 
From  time  to  time  the  police  make  a  skirmish  there, 
but  an  unpleasant  element  of  danger  is  still  con- 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  209 

nected  with  a  visit  to  this  section  of  the  city's  heart, 
whicli  di-ters  most  people  from  making  the  attempt. 

Beyond  this  lie  the  heights,  on  which  stand  the 
fortress  and  the  Catacombs  Monastery.  Opposite 
the  arsenal  opens  the  "  Holy  Gate ;  "  all  Russian 
monasteries  seem  to  have  a  holy  gate.  "  The  wall, 
fourteen  feet  in  height,  and  more  in  some  places,  sur- 
rounding the  principal  court,  was  built  by  Hetman 
Mazeppa,"  says  the  local  guide-book.  Thus  promptly 
did  we  come  upon  traces  of  that  dashing  Kazak  chief- 
tain, who  would  seem,  judging  from  the  solid  silver 
tombs  for  saints,  the  churches,  academy,  and  many 
other  offerings  of  that  nature  in  Kieff  alone,  to  have 
spent  the  intervals  between  his  deeds  of  outrageous 
treachery  and  immorality  in  acts  of  ostentatious 
piety.-  In  fact,  his  piety  had  an  object,  as  piety  of 
that  rampant  variety  usually  has.  He  meditated 
betraying  Little  Russia  into  the  power  of  Poland; 
and  knowing  well  how  heartily  the  Little  Russians 
detested  the  Poles  because  of  the  submission  to  the 
Pope  of  Rome  in  those  Greek  churches  designated  as 
Uniates,  he  sought  to  soothe  their  suspicions  and 
allay  their  fears  by  this  display  of  attachment  to  the 
national  church.  His  vaingloriousness  was  shown  by 
his  habit  of  having  his  coat  of  arms  placed  on  bells, 
ikonostdsi,1  and  windows  of  the  churches  he  built. 
In  one  case,  he  caused  his  portrait  to  be  inserted  in 
the  holy  door  of  the  ikonostds, —  a  very  improper 
procedure,  —  where  it  remained  until  the  middle  of 
the  last  century.  Highly  colored  frescoes  of  the 
special  monastery  saints  and  of  historical  incidents 
adorned  the  wall  outside  the  holy  gate.  Inside,  we 
found  a  monk  presiding  over  a  table,  on  which  stood 

1  Image  screens. 


210  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

the  image  of  the  saint  of  the  day,  a  platter  covered 
with  a  cross-adorned  cloth,  for  offerings,  and  various 
objects  of  piety  for  sale. 

The  first  thing  which  struck  us,  as  we  entered  the 
great  court,  was  the  peculiar  South  Kussian  taste  for 
filling  in  the  line  of  roof  between  the  numerous  domes 
with  curving  pediments  and  tapering  turned-wood 
spirelets  surmounted  by  golden  stars  and  winged 
seraphs'  heads  surrounded  by  rays.  The  effect  of  so 
many  points  of  gold  against  the  white  of  the  walls, 
combined  with  the  gold  of  the  crosses,  the  high  tints 
of  the  external  frescoes,  and  the  gold  of  the  cupolas, 
is  very  brilliant,  no  doubt ;  but  it  is  confusing,  and 
constitutes  what,  for  want  of  a  better  word,  I  must 
call  a  Byzantine-rococo  style  of  architecture.  The 
domes,  under  Western  influence,  during  the  many 
centuries  when  Kieff  was  divorced  from  Russia,  under 
Polish  and  Lithuanian  rule,  assumed  forms  which 
lack  the  purity  and  grace  of  those  in  Russia  proper. 
Octagonal  cupolas  supported  on  thick,  sloping  bases 
involuntarily  remind  one  of  the  cup-and-ball  game. 
Not  content  with  this  degenerate  beginning,  they 
pursue  their  errors  heavenward.  Instead  of  terminat- 
ing directly  in  a  cross,  they  are  surmounted  by  a  lan- 
tern frescoed  with  saints,  a  second  octagonal  dome,  a 
ball,  and  a  cross.  These  octagons  constitute  a  fea- 
ture in  all  South  Russian  churches. 

Along  the  sides  of  the  court  leading  to  the  great 
Assumption  Cathedral  stood  long,  plain  one  and  two 
story  buildings,  the  cells  of  the  monks.  Rugs  of  fine 
coloring  and  design  were  airing  on  the  railings  in 
front  of  them.  I  examined  their  texture,  found  it 
thick  and  silky,  but  could  not  class  it  with  any  manu- 
facture of  my  acquaintance.  I  looked  about  for  some 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  211 

one  to  question.  A  monk  was  approaching.  His 
long,  abundant  hair  flowed  in  waves  from  beneath 
the  black  veil  which  hung  from  his  tall,  cylindrical 
klobtik,  resembling  a  rimless  silk  hat.  His  artistically 
cut  black  robe  fell  in  graceful  folds.  I  should  de- 
scribe him  as  dandified,  did  I  dare  apply  such  an 
adjective  to  an  ecclesiastical  recluse.  I  asked  him 
where  such  rugs  were  to  be  found.  He  answered 
that  they  were  of  peasant  manfuacture,  and  that  I 
could  probably  find  them  in  Podol,  the  market  below 
the  cliffs.  These  specimens  had  been  presented  to 
the  monastery  by  "  zealous  benefactors." 

Then  he  took  his  turn  at  questioning.  I  presume 
that  my  accent  was  not  perfect,  or  that  I  had  omitted 
some  point  of  etiquette  in  which  an  Orthodox  Russian 
would  have  been  drilled,  such  as  asking  his  blessing 
and  kissing  his  hand  in  gratitude,  by  way  of  saying 
44  good-morning,"  or  something  of  that  sort.  His 
manner  was  that  o£  a  man  of  the  world,  artistically 
tinged  with  monastic  conventionality,  and  I  wondered 
whether  he  were  not  an  ex-officer  of  the  Guards  who 
had  wearied  of  Court  and  gayeties.  He  offered  to 
show  us  about,  and  took  us  to  the  printing-house, 
founded  in  the  sixteenth  century.  It  is  still  one  of 
the  best  and  most  extensive  in  the  country,  with  a 
department  of  chromo-lithography  attached  for  the 
preparation  of  cheap  pictures  of  saints.  One  of  the 
finest  views  in  town  is  from  the  balcony  at  the  rear 
of  this  building,  and  the  monk  explained  all  the 
points  to  us. 

There  was  an  air  of  authority  about  our  im- 
promptu guide,  and  the  profound  reverences  bestowed 
upon  him  and  upon  us  by  the  workmen  in  the  print- 
ing-house, as  well  as  by  all  the  monks  whom  we  met, 


212  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

prompted  me  to  inquire,  as  we  parted  from  him,  to 
whom  we  were  indebted  for  such  interesting  guidance 
and  explanations. 

"  I  am  otetz  kaznatchei"  he  replied,  with  a  smile, 
as  he  not  only  offered  his  hand,  but  grasped  mine  and 
shook  it,  with  an  expression  of  his  cordial  good 
wishes,  instead  of  bestowing  upon  me  a  mechanical 
cross  in  the  air,  and  permitting  me  to  kiss  his  plump 
little  fingers  in  return,  as  he  would  undoubtedly  have 
done  had  I  been  a  Russian.  I  understood  the  respect 
paid,  and  our  reflected  importance,  when  I  discovered 
that  the  u  Father  Treasurer  "  occupies  the  highest 
rank  next  to  the  permanent  head  of  the  monastery 
officially,  and  the  most  important  post  of  all  practi- 
cally. 

Shortly  after,  the  question  fever  having  attacked 
me  again,  I  accosted  another  monk,  equal  in  stateli- 
ness  of  aspect  to  the  Father  Treasurer.  He  informed 
me  that  from  seven  hundred  to  one  thousand  persons 
lived  in  the  monastery.  Not  all  of  them  were  monks, 
some  being  only  lay  brethren.  Each  monk,  however, 
had  his  own  apartments,  with  a  little  garden  attached, 
and  the  beautiful  rugs  which  I  had  seen  formed 
part  of  the  furnishings  of  their  cells.  A  man  cannot 
enter  the  monastery  without  money,  but  fifty  rubles 
(about  twenty-five  dollars)  are  sufficient  to  gain  him 
admittance.  Some  men  leave  the  monastery  after  a 
brief  trial,  without  receiving  the  habit.  "  In  such 
a  throng  one  comes  to  know  many  faces,"  he  said, 
"but  not  all  persons." 

I  inquired  whether  it  were  not  a  monotonous,  tire- 
some life. 

"  It  seems  so  to  you ! "  he  replied,  when  he  had 
recovered  from  his  amazement;  and  when  I  mentioned 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  213 

the  liturgy  which  is  peculiar  to  the  monastery  cathe- 
dral, and  famed  throughout  Russia  as  "  the  Kierf- 
Catacombs  singing,"  all  he  found  to  say  was,  "  It  is 
very  long." 

He  took  advantage  of  the  chance  presented  by  a 
trip  to  his  cell  to  get  us  some  water,  to  remove  his 
tall  klobuk.  He  must  have  read  in  our  glances 
admiration  of  his  beauty  mingled  with  a  doubt  as  to 
whether  it  were  not  partly  due  to  this  becoming  cowl 
and  veil,  and  determined  to  convince  us  that  it  was 
nature,  not  adventitious  circumstances,  in  his  case.  I 
think  he  must  have  been  content  with  the  expression 
of  our  faces,  as  he  showed  us  the  way  to  the  most  an- 
cient of  all  the  churches  in  Kieff,  — in  Russia,  in  fact, 
—  built  by  Prince-Saint  Vladimir  immediately  after 
his  return  from  the  crusade  in  search  of  baptism. 

The  church  door  was  locked.  The  wife  of  the 
deacon  in  charge  was  paddling  about  barefooted,  in 
pursuit  of  her  fowls,  in  the  long  grass  of  the  door- 
yard.  She  abandoned  the  chickens  and  hunted  up 
her  husband,  who  took  a  peep  at  us,  and  then  kept 
us  waiting  while  he  donned  his  best  cassock  before 
escorting  us. 

It  is  a  very  small,  very  plain  church  which  ad- 
joined Prince  Vladimir's  summer  palace,  long  since 
destroyed,  and  still  preserves  its  gallery  for  women 
and  servants,  and  a  box  for  the  ladies  of  the  house- 
hold. Everything  about  it  is  nine  hundred  years  old, 
except  the  roof  and  the  upper  portion  of  the  walls. 
The  archaic  frescoes  of  angels  in  the  chancel,  which 
date  from  the  same  period,  and  are  the  best  in  Kieff, 
were  the  only  objects  which  the  deacon  could  find  to 
expound,  to  enhance  the  "tea-money"  value  of  his 
services  in  putting  on  his  best  gown  and  unlocking 


214  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

the  door,  and  he  performed  his  duty  meekly,  but 
firmly.  We  did  ours  by  him,  and  betook  ourselves 
to  the  principal  church,  the  Cathedral  of  the  As- 
sumption, where  less  is  left  to  the  imagination. 

There,  very  few  of  the  frescoes  are  more  than  a 
hundred  and  sixty  years  old,  the  majority  dating 
back  less  than  sixty  years,  and  being  in  a  style  to 
suit  the  rococo  gilt  carving,  and  the  silver-gilt  Impe- 
rial Gate  to  the  altar.  In  the  pdpert,  or  corridor- 
vestibule,  a  monk  who  was  presiding  over  a  Book 
of  Eternal  Remembrance  invited  us  to  enter  our 
subscriptions  for  general  prayers  to  be  said  on  our 
behalf,  or  for  special  prayers  to  be  said  before  the 
"  wonder-working  image"  of  the- Assumption  so  long 
as  the  monastery  shall  exist. 

"  We  are  not  pravosldvny  "  (Orthodox  Christians), 
I  said.  But,  instead  of  being  depressed  by  this  tacit 
refusal,  he  brightened  up  and  plied  us  with  a  series 
of  questions,  until  he  really  seemed  to  take  a  tem- 
porary interest  in  life,  in  place  of  his  permanent 
official  interest  in  death  alone,  or  chiefly. 

Service  was  in  progress,  in  accordance  with  the 
canons  of  the  Studieff  monastery,  adopted  by  St. 
Fed6sy  in  the  eleventh  century.  The  singers,  placed 
in  an  unusual  position,  in  the  centre  of  the  church, 
were  as  remarkable  for  their  hair  as  for  their  voices 
and  execution.  The  russet-brown  and  golden  locks 
of  some  of  them  fell  in  heavy  waves  to  their  waists. 
In  fact,  long,  waving  hair  seemed  to  be  a  specialty 
with  the  monks  of  this  monastery,  and  they  wore  it 
in  braids  when  off  duty.  I  had  seen  priests  in  St. 
Petersburg  who  so  utterly  beyond  a  doubt  frizzed 
their  scanty  hair  on  days  of  grand  festivals,  that  the 
three  tufts  pertaining  to  the  three  too  slender  hair- 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  215 

pins  on  which  they  had  been  done  up  stood  out  in 
painfully  isolated  disagreement.  What  would  they 
not  have  given  for  such  splendid  manes  as  these 
Kieff  singers  possessed  ! 

We  ascended  to  the  gallery,  to  obtain  a  better 
view  of  the  scene.  Peasant  men  in  sheepskins  (tu- 
lfi/>i),  —  the  temperature  verged  on  100°  Fahrenheit, 
-  in  coats  of  dark  brown  homespun  wool  girt  with 
sashes  which  had  once  been  bright;  female  pilgrims 
in  wadded  coats  girt  into  shapelessness  over  cotton 
gowns  of  brilliant  hues,  knelt  in  prayer  all  about  the 
not  very  spacious  floor.  Their  traveling-sacks  on 
their  backs,  the  tin  tea-kettles  and  cooking  parapher- 
nalia at  their  belts,  swayed  into  perilous  positions 
as  they  rocked  back  and  forth,  striking  the  floor 
devoutly  with  their  brows,  rising  only  to  throw  back 
their  long  hair,  cross  themselves  rapidly,  and  resume 
the  "  ground  salutations,"  until  we  were  fairly  dizzy 
at  the  sight.  Some  of  them  placed  red,  yellow,  or 
green  tapers  —  the  first  instance  of  such  a  taste  in 
colors  which  we  had  observed  —  on  the  sharp  points 
of  the  silver  candelabra  standing  before  the  holy 
pictures  in  the  ikonostds,  already  overcrowded.  A 
monk  was  incessantly  engaged  in  removing  the  tapers 
when  only  half  consumed,  to  make  way  for  the  ever- 
swelling  flood  of  fresh  tapers.  Another  monk  was 
as  incessantly  engaged  in  receiving  the  prosfori.  A 
profford  is  leavened  bread  in  the  shape  of  a  tiny 
double  loaf,  which  is  sold  at  the  doors  of  churches, 
and  bears  on  its  upper  surface  certain  symbolic  signs, 
as  a  rule.  The  Communion  is  prepared  from  similar 
loaves  by  the  priest,  who  removes  certain  portions 
with  a  spear-shaped  knife,  and  places  them  in  the 
wine  of  the  chalice.  The  wine  and  bread  are  ad- 


216  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

ministered  with  a  spoon  to  communicants.  From 
the  loaves  bought  at  the  door  pieces  are  cut  in  memory 
of  dead  friends,  whose  souls  are  to  be  prayed  for, 
or  of  living  friends,  whose  health  is  prayed  for  by 
the  priest  at  a  certain  point  of  the  service,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  indications  sent  up  to  the  altar  with 
the  loaves  on  slips  of  paper,  such  as  "  For  the  soul 
of  Ivan  Vasilievitch,"  "  For  the  health  of  Tatiana 
Pa-vlovna."  Thus  is  preserved  the  memory  of  early 
Christian  times,  when  the  Christians  brought  wine 
and  oil  and  bread  for  their  worship;  and  the  best 
having  been  selected  for  sacred  use,  portions  were 
taken  from  the  remainder  in  memory  of  those  who 
sent  or  brought  them,  after  the  rest  was  used  to 
refresh  the  congregation  during  a  pause  in  the  all- 
night  service  between  vespers  and  matins.  After 
the  service,  in  our  modern  times,  the  prosfori  are 
given  back  to  the  owners,  who  cross  themselves  and 
eat  the  bread  reverently  on  the  spot  or  elsewhere, 
as  blessed  but  not  sacramental.  At  this  monas- 
tery, the  prosfori  prepared  for  memorial  use  had  a 
group  of  the  local  saints  stamped  on  top,  instead  of 
the  usual  cross  and  characters.  It  is  considered  a 
delicate  attention  on  the  part  of  a  person  who  has 
been  on  a  pilgrimage  to  any  of  the  holy  places  to 
bring  back  a  protford  for  a  friend.  It  is  very  good 
when  sliced  and  eaten  with  tea,  omitting  the  bottom 
crust,  which  may  have  been  dated  in  ink  by  the  pil- 
grim. Some  of  the  peasants  at  this  monastery  church 
sent  in  to  be  blessed  huge  packages  of  prosfori  tied 
up  in  gay  cotton  kerchiefs. 

The  service  ended,  and  the  chief  treasure  of  the 
monastery,  the  miraculous  image  of  the  Assumption 
of  the  Virgin,  —  the  Falling  Asleep  of  the  Virgin  is 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  217 

the  Russian  name,  —  was  let  slowly  clown  on  its  silken 
cords  from  above  the  Imperial  Gate,  where  a  twelve- 
fold silver  lamp,  with  glass  cups  of  different  colors, 
Las  burned  un quenched  since  1812,  in  commemora- 
tion of  Russia's  deliverance  from  "  the  twelve  tribes," 
as  the  French  invasion  is  termed.  The  congregation 
pressed  forward  eagerly  to  salute  the  venerated 
image.  Tradition  asserts  that  it  was  brought  from 
Constantinople  to  Kieff  in  the  year  1073,  with  the 
Virgin's  special  blessing  for  the  monastery.  By  rea- 
son of  age  and  the  smoke  from  conflagrations  in 
which  the  monastery  has  suffered,  the  image  is  so 
darkened  that  one  is  cast  back  upon  one's  imagina- 
tion and  the  copies  for  comprehension  of  this  treas- 
ure's outlines.  What  is  perfectly  comprehensible, 
however,  is  the  galaxy  of  diamonds,  brilliants,  and 
gems  thickly  set  in  the  golden  garments  which  cover 
all  but  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  personages  in  the 
picture,  and  illuminate  it  with  flashes  of  many-hued 
light.  After  a  few  minutes,  the  image  was  drawn 
up  again  to  its  place,  — a  most,  unusual  position  for 
a  valued  holy  image,  though  certainly  safe,  and  one 
not  occupied,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  by  any  other  in 
the  country. 

It  occurred  to  us  that  it  might  prove  an  interest- 
ing experiment  to  try  the  monastery  inn  for  break- 
fast, and  even  to  sojourn  there  for  a  day  or  two,  and 
abandon  the  open  sewers  and  other  traces  of  advanced 
civilization  in  the  town.  Our  way  thither  led  past 
the  free  lodgings  for  poor  pilgrims,  which  were 
swarming  with  the  devout  of  both  sexes,  although  it 
was  not  the  busiest  season  for  shrine-visiting.  That 
comes  in  the  spring,  before  the  harvest,  at  all  mon- 
asteries, and,  in  this  particular  monastery,  on  the 


218  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

feast  of  the  Assumption,  August  15  (Russian  style), 
27  (European  style).  But  there  was  a  sufficient 
contingent  of  the  annual  one  million  pilgrims  pres- 
ent to  give  us  a  very  fair  idea  of  the  reverence  in 
which  this,  the  chief  of  all  Russian  monasteries,  is 
held,  and  of  the  throngs  which  it  attracts.  But,  as 
usual  in  Russia,  sight  alone  convinced  us  of  their 
existence ;  they  were  chatting  quietly,  sitting  and 
lying  about  with  enviable  calmness,  or  eating  the  sour 
black  bread  and  boiled  buckwheat  groats  provided 
by  the  monastery.  I  talked  with  several  of  them, 
and  found  them  quite  unconscious  that  they  were  not 
comfortably,  even  luxuriously,  housed  and  fed. 

The  inn  for  travelers  of  means  was  a  large,  plain, 
airy  building,  with  no  lodgers,  apparently.  The 
monks  seemed  frightened  at  the  sight  of  us.  That 
was  a  novelty.  But  they  escorted  us  over  the  house 
in  procession.  We  looked  at  a  very  clean,  very 
plain  room,  containing  four  beds.  It  appeared,  from 
their  explanations,  that  pilgrims  have  gregarious 
tastes,  and  that  this  was  their  nearest  approach  to  a 
single  room.  I  inquired  the  price.  "  According  to 
your  zeal,"  was  the  reply.  How  much  more  effec- 
tive than  "  What  you  please "  in  luring  the  silver 
from  lukewarm  pockets !  The  good  monks  never 
found  out  how  warm  our  zeal  was,  after  all,  for  the 
reason  that  their  table  was  never  furnished  with  any- 
thing but  fish  and  "  fasting  food,"  they  said,  though 
there  was  no  fast  in  progress.  The  reason  why,  I 
could  not  discover ;  but  we  knew  our  own  minds 
thoroughly  on  the  subject  of  "  fasting  food,"  from 
mushroom  soup,  fish  fried  in  sunflower  oil,  and  coffee 
without  milk  to  that  most  insipid  of  dessert  dishes, 
kisel,  made  of  potato  flour,  sweetened,  and  slightly 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  219 

soured  with  fruit  juice.  They  told  us  that  we  might 
have  meat  sent  out  from  town,  if  we  wished;  but 
as  the  town  lay  several  versts  distant,  that  did  not 
seem  a  very  practical  way  of  coquetting  with  the 
Evil  One  under  their  roof.  Accordingly,  we  with- 
drew ;  to  their  relief,  I  am  sure.  As  we  had  already 
lived  in  a  monastery  inn,  it  had  not  occurred  to  us 
that  there  could  be  any  impropriety  in  doing  so,  but 
that  must  have  been  the  cause  of  their  looks  of 
alarm.  I  believe  that  one  can  remain  for  a  fortnight 
at  this  inn  without  payment,  unless  conscience  inter- 
feres ;  and  people  who  had  stayed  there  told  me  that 
meat  had  been  served  to  them  from  the  monastery 
kitchen  ;  so  that  puzzle  still  remains  a  puzzle  to  me. 

We  went  to  see  the  brethren  dine  in  the  refectory, 
an  ancient,  vaulted  building  of  stone,  near  the  cathe- 
dral. Under  a  white  stone  slab  near  the  entrance  lie 
the  bodies  of  Kotchubey  and  Iskra,  who  were  unjustly 
executed  by  Peter  the  Great  for  their  loyal  denun- 
ciation of  Mazeppa's  meditated  treachery.  Within, 
the  walls  of  the  antechamber  were  decorated  with 
dizzy  perspective  views  of  Jerusalem,  the  saints,  and 
pious  elders  of  the  monastery.  At  the  end  of  the 
long  din  ing-hall,  beyond  an  ikonostds,  was  a  church, 
as  is  customary  in  these  refectories.  Judging  from 
the  number  of  servitors  whom  we  had  met  hurrying 
towards  the  cells  with  sets  of  porcelain  dinner-trays, 
not  many  monks  intended  to  join  the  common  table, 
and  it  did  not  chance  to  be  one  of  the  four  days  in 
the  year  when  the  Metropolitan  of  Kieff  and  other 
dignitaries  dine  there  in  full  vestments. 

At  last,  a  score  of  monks  entered,  chanted  a  prayer 
at  a  signal  from  a  small  bell,  and  seated  themselves 
on  benches  affixed  to  the  wall  which  ran  round  three 


220  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY   CITY. 

sides  of  the  room.  The  napkins  on  the  tables  which 
stood  before  the  benches  consisted  of  long  towels, 
each  of  which  lay  across  four  or  five  of  the  pewter 
platters  from  which  they  ate,  as  the  table  was  set  in 
preparation.  If  it  had  been  a  festal  clay,  there  would 
have  been  several  courses,  with  beer,  mead,  and  even 
wine  to  wash  them  down.  As  it  was,  the  monks  ate 
their  black  bread  and  boiled  buckwheat  groats,  served 
in  huge  dishes,  with  their  wooden  spoons,  and  drank 
Jcvas,  brewed  from  sour  black  bread,  at  a  signal  from 
the  bell,  after  the  first  dish  only,  as  the  rule  requires. 
While  they  ate,  a  monk,  stationed  at  a  desk  near  by, 
read  aloud  the  extracts  from  the  Lives  of  the  Saints 
appointed  for  the  day.  This  was  one  of  the  "  sights," 
but  we  found  it  curious  and  melancholy  to  see  strong, 
healthy  men  turned  into  monks  and  content  with  that 
meagre  fare.  Frugality  and  dominion  over  the  flesh 
are  good,  of  course,  but  minds  from  west  of  the  At- 
lantic Ocean  never  seem  quite  to  get  into  sympathy 
with  the  monastic  idea  ;  and  we  always  felt,  when  we 
met  monks,  as  though  they  ought  all  to  be  off  at 
work  somewhere,  - —  I  will  not  say  "  earning  money," 
for  they  do  that  as  it  is  in  such  great  monasteries  as 
that  of  Kieff,  but  lightening  the  burden  of  the  peas- 
ants, impossible  as  that  is  under  present  conditions, 
or  making  themselves  of  some  commonplace,  practi- 
cal use  in  the  world. 

The  strongest  point  of  the  Lavra,  even  equal  to 
the  ancient  and  venerated  ikdna  of  the  Assumption 
in  the  great  cathedral,  is  the  catacombs,  from  which 
the  convent  takes  its  name. 

In  the  days  of  the  early  princes  of  Kieff,  the 
heights  now  occupied  by  the  Lavra  were  covered  with 
a  dense  growth  of  birch  forest,  and  entirely  uninhab- 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  221 

ited.  Later  on,  one  of  the  hills  was  occupied  by  the 
village  of  Ber6stovo,  and  a  palace  was  built  adjoining 
the  tiny  ancient  "Church  of  the  Saviour  in  the  Birch 
Forest,"  which  I  have  already  mentioned.  It  was  the 
favorite  residence  of  Prince-Saint  Vladimir,  and  of 
his  son,  Prince  Yaroslaif,  after  him.  During  the 
reign  of  the  latter,  early  in  the  eleventh  century,  the 
priest  of  this  little  church,  named  Ilari<5n,  excavated 
for  himself  a  tiny  cave,  and  there  passed  his  time  in 
devout  meditation  and  solitary  prayer.  He  aban- 
doned his  cave  to  become  Metropolitan  of  Kit-ff.  In 
the  year  1051,  the  monk  Ant6ny,  a  native  of  the 
neighboring  government  of  Tchermgoff,  came  to  Kieif 
from  Mount  Athos,  being  dissatisfied  with  the  life 
led  in  the  then  existing  monasteries.  After  long 
wanderings  over  the  hills  of  Kieff,  he  took  possession 
of  Ilarion's  cave,  and  spent  his  days  and  nights  in 
pious  exercises.  The  fame  of  his  devout  life  soon 
spread  abroad,  and  attracted  to  him,  for  his  blessing, 
not  only  the  common  people,  but  persons  of  distinc- 
tion. Monks  and  worldlings  flocked  thither  to  join 
him  in  his  life  of  prayer.  Among  the  first  of  these 
to  arrive  was  a  youth  of  the  neighborhood,  named 
Fed6sy.  Antony  hesitated,  but  at  last  accepted  the 
enthusiastic  recruit. 

The  dimensions  of  holy  Ant6ny's  cave  were  grad- 
ually enlarged  ;  new  cells,  and  even  a  tiny  church, 
were  constructed  near  it.  Then  Ant6ny,  who  dis- 
liked communal  life,  retreated  to  the  height  opposite, 
separated  from  his  first  residence  by  a  deep  ravine, 
and  dug  himself  another  cave,  where  no  one  inter- 
fered with  him.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  caves  of 
Fed6sy,  known  at  the  present  day  as  the  "far  cata- 
combs," and  of  the  caves  of  Antony,  called  the  "  near 


222  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

catacombs."  The  number  of  the  monks  continued 
to  increase,  and  they  soon  erected  a  small  wooden 
church  aboveground,  in  the  name  of  the  Assumption 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  as  well  as  cells  for  those  who 
could  not  be  contained  in  the  caverns.  At  the  re- 
quest of  holy  Antony,  the  prince  gave  the  whole  of 
the  heights  where  the  catacombs  are  situated  to  the 
brethren,  and  in  1062  a  large  new  monastery,  sur- 
rounded by  a  stockade,  was  erected  on  the  spot  where 
the  Cathedral  of  the  Assumption  now  stands.  Thus 
was  monastic  life  introduced  into  Russia. 

The  venerated  monastery  shared  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  the  "Mother  of  all  Russian  Cities"  in  the  wars 
of  the  Grand  Princes  and  the  incursions  of  external 
enemies,  such  as  Poles  and  Tatars.  But  after  each 
disaster  it  waxed  greater  and  more  flourishing.  Re- 
stored, after  a  disastrous  fire  in  1718,  by  the  zeal  of 
Peter  the  Great  and  his  successors,  enriched  by  the 
gifts  of  all  classes,  the  Lavra  now  consists  of  six  mon- 
asteries,—  like  a  university  of  colleges,  —  four  situ- 
ated within  the  in  closure,  while  two  are  at  a  distance 
of  several  versts,  and  serve  as  retreats  and  as  places 
of  burial  for  the  brethren. 

The  catacombs,  abandoned  as  residences  on  the 
construction  of  the  cells  above  ground,  have  not  es- 
caped disasters  by  caving  in.  Drains  to  carry  off  the 
percolating  water,  and  stone  arches  to  support  the  soil, 
have  been  constructed,  and  a  flourishing  orchard  has 
been  planted  above  them  to  aid  in  holding  the  soil 
together.  Earthquakes  in  the  thirteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries  permanently  closed  many  of  them, 
and  when  the  Tatars  attacked  the  town,  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  the  monks  boarded  up  all  the  niches 
and  filled  in  the  entrances  with  earth.  Some  of  these 


A  RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  223 

boards  were  removed  about  a  hundred  years  ago ; 
some  are  still  in  place.  The  original  extent  of  the 
caves  cannot  now  be  determined. 

The  entrance  to  the  near  catacombs  of  St.  Ant6ny 
is  through  a  long  wooden  gallery  supported  on  stone 
posts,  at  a  sharp  slope,  as  they  are  situated  twenty- 
four  fathoms  below  the  level  of  the  cathedral,. and 
twenty-two  fathoms  above  the  level  of  the  Dnye'pr. 

A  fat  merchant,  with  glowing  black  eyes  and  flow- 
ing, crisp,  black  beard,  his  tall,  wrinkled  boots  barely 
visible  beneath  his  long,  full-skirted  coat  of  dark  blue 
cloth,  hooked  closely  across  his  breast,  descended  the 
gallery  with  us.  Roused  to  curiosity,  probably,  by 
our  foreign  tongue,  he  inquired,  on  the  chance  of  our 
understanding  Russian,  whence  we  came. 

I  had  already  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the 
people  at  Kieff,  especially  the  monks  and  any  one 
who  breathed  the  atmosphere  within  their  walls,  were 
of  an  enterprising,  inquisitive  disposition.  My  last 
encounter  had  been  with  the  brother  detailed,  for 
his  good  looks  and  fascinating  manners,  to  preside 
over  the  chief  image  shop  of  the  monastery. 

"  Where  do  you  come  from  ?"  he  had  opened  fire, 
with  his  most  bewitching  glance. 

"  From  the  best  country  on  earth." 

"  Is  it  Germany  ?  " 

The  general  idea  among  the  untraveled  classes  in 
Russia  is,  that  all  of  the  earth  which  does  not  belong 
to  their  own  Emperor  belongs  to  Germany,  just  as 
nyemetzky  means  "  German  "  or  "  foreign,"  indiffer- 
ently. 

"  No  ;  guess  again,"  I  said. 

"  France?" 

"No;  further  away." 


224  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

"  England,  then  ?  " 

"No." 

"  Hungary  ?  " 

Evidently  that  man's  geography  was  somewhat 
mixed,  so  I  told  him. 

"  America !  "  he  exclaimed,  with  great  vivacity. 
*'  Yes,  indeed,  it  is  the  best  land  of  all.  It  is  the 
richest ! " 

So  that  is  the  monastic  as  well  as  the  secular  stand- 
ard of  worth!  This  experience,  repeated  frequently 
and  nearly  word  for  word,  had  begun  to  weary  me. 
Consequently  I  led  the  fat  merchant  a  verbal  chase, 
and  baffled  him  until  he  capitulated  with,  u  Excuse 
me.  Take  no  offense,  I  beg,  suddrynya.  I  only  asked 
so  by  chance."  Then  I  told  him  with  the  same 
result. 

This  was  not  the  last  time,  by  many,  that  I  was 
put  through  my  national  catechism  in  Kieff.  Every 
Kievlyanin  to  whom  I  spoke  quizzed  me.  Of  course  I 
was  on  a  grand  quizzing  tour  myself,  but  that  was 
different,  in  some  way. 

Over  the  entrance  to  these  catacombs  stands  a 
church.  The  walls  of  the  vestibule  where  my  mother, 
the  merchant,  and  I  waited  for  a  sufficient  party  to 
assemble,  were  covered  with  frescoes  representing 
the  passage  of  the  soul  through  the  various  stages  of 
purgatory.  Beginning  with  the  death  scene  (which 
greatly  resembled  the  iktina  of  the  Assumption  in 
the  cathedral)  in  the  lower  left-hand  corner,  the 
white-robed  soul,  escorted  by  two  angels,  passed 
through  all  the  halting-places  for  the  various  sins, 
each  represented  by  the  appointed  devil,  duly  la- 
beled. But  the  artist's  fancy  had  not  been  very 
fruitful  on  this  fascinating  theme.  The  devils  were 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  225 

so  exactly  alike  tlitit  the  only  moral  one  could  draw 
was,  that  he  might  as  well  commit  the  biggest  and 
most  profitable  sin  on  the  list,  and  make  something 
out  of  it  in  this  life,  as  to  confine  himself  to  the 
petty  peccadilloes  which  profit  not  here,  and  get  well 
punished  hereafter.  The  series  ended  with  the  pre- 
sentation of  the  soul  before  the  judgment  seat,  on 
the  fortieth  day  after  death.  Round  the  corner,  Laz- 
arus reclining  in  Abraham's  bosom  and  the  rich  man 
in  the  flames  were  conversing,  their  remarks  crossing 
each  other  in  mid-air,  in  a  novel  fashion. 

When  the  guide  was  ready,  each  of  us  bought  a 
taper,  and  the  procession  set  out  through  the  iron 
grating,  down  a  narrow,  winding  stair,  from  which 
low,  dark  passages  opened  out  at  various  angles.  On 
eac-h  side  of  these  narrow  passages,  along  which  we 
were  led,  reposed  the  "  incorruptible  "  bodies  of  St. 
Antony  and  his  comrades,  in  open  coffins  lacquered 
or  covered  with  sheets  of  silver.  The  bodies  seemed 
very  small,  and  all  of  one  size,  and  they  were  wrapped 
in  hideous  prints  or  plaid  silks.  At  the  head  of  each 
saint  flickered  a  tiny  shrine-lamp,  before  a  holy  pic- 
ture (iktina)  of  the  occupant  of  the  coffin.  It  was  a 
surprise  to  find  the  giant  Ily&  of  Murom,  who  figures 
as  the  chief  of  the  bogatyri  (heroes)  in  the  Russian 
epic  songs,  ensconced  here  among  the  saints,  and  no 
larger  than  they.  Next  to  the  silk-enveloped  head 
of  St.  John  the  Great  Sufferer,  which  still  projects 
as  in  life,  when  he  buried  himself  to  the  neck  in  the 
earth,  —  as  though  he  were  not  sufficiently  under- 
ground already,  —  in  order  to  preserve  his  purity, 
the  most  gruesome  sight  which  we  beheld  in  those 
dim  catacombs  was  a  group  of  chrism-exuding  skulls 
of  unknown  saints,  under  glass  bells. 


226  A  RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

On  emerging  from  this  gloomy  retreat,  we  post- 
poned meditating  upon  the  special  pleasure  which 
the  Lord  was  supposed  to  have  taken  in  seeing  beings 
made  to  live  aboveground  turning  into  troglodytes, 
and  set  out  for  the  Fedosy,  or  far  catacombs,  in  the 
hope  that  they  might  assist  us  in  solving  that 
problem. 

We  chose  the  most  difficult  way,  descending  into 
the  intervening  ravine  by  innumerable  steps  to  view 
the  two  sacred  wells,  only  to  have  our  raging  thirst 
and  our  curiosity  effectually  quenched  by  the  sight 
of  a  pilgrim  thrusting  his  head,  covered  with  long, 
matted  hair,  into  one  of  them.  The  ascent  of  more 
innumerable  steps  brought  us  to  the  cradle  of  the 
monastery,  Ilarion's  caverns. 

In  the  antechamber  we  found  a  phenomenally  stu- 
pid monk  presiding  over  the  sale  of  the  indispensable 
tapers,  and  the  offerings  which  the  devout  are  expected 
to  deposit,  on  emerging,  as  a  memento  of  their  visit. 
These  offerings  lay  like  mountains  of  copper  before 
him.  The  guide  had  taken  himself  off  somewhere, 
and  the  monk  ordered  us,  and  the  five  Russians  who 
were  also  waiting,  to  go  in  alone  and  "  call  to  the 
monk  in  the  cave."  We  flatly  declined  to  take  his 
word  that  there  was  any  monk,  or  to  venture  into  the 
dangerous  labyrinth  alone,  and  we  demanded  that  he 
should  accompany  us. 

"  No  guide  —  no  candles,  no  coppers,"  we  said. 

That  seemed  to  him  a  valid  argument.  Loath  to 
leave  his  money  at  the  mercy  of  chance  comers,  he 
climbed  up  and  closed  the  iron  shutters  of  the  grated 
window, — the  cliff  descended,  sheer,  one  hundred 
and  two  feet  to  the  Dnyepr  at  that  point, — double- 
locked  the  great  iron  doors,  and  there  we  were  in  a 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  227 

bank  vault,  with  all  possible  customers  excluded. 
Luckily,  the  saints  in  these  caverns,  which  differed 
very  little  from  those  in  the  former,  were  labeled  in 
plain  letters,  since  the  monk  was  too  dull-witted  to 
understand  the  simplest  questions  from  any  of  us. 
At  intervals  we  were  permitted  a  hasty  glimpse  of  a 
cell,  about  seven  feet  square,  furnished  only  with  a 
stone  bench,  and  a  holy  picture,  with  a  shrine-lamp 
suspended  before  it.  Ugh  !  There  were  several  sets 
of  chrism-dripping  saintly  skulls  in  these  catacombs, 
also,  —  fifteen  of  the  ghastly  things  in  one  group.  I 
braced  my  stomach  to  the  task,  and  scrutinized  them 
all  attentively ;  but  not  a  single  one  of  them  winked 
or  nodded  at  me  in  approval,  as  a  nun  from  Kolomna, 
whom  I  had  met  in  Moscow,  asserted  that  they  had 
at  her.  I  really  wished  to  see  how  an  eyeless  skull 
could  manage  a  wink,  and  hoped  I  might  be  favored. 
After  traversing  long  distances  of  this  subterra- 
nean maze,  and  peering  into  the  "  cradle  of  the  mon- 
astery," St.  Ant6ny's  cell,  the  procession  came  to  a 
halt  in  a  tiny  church.  There  stood  a  monk,  actually, 
though  we  might  have  wandered  all  day  and  come 
out  on  the  banks  of  the  Dnye*pr  without  finding  him, 
had  we  gone  in  without  a  guide.  Beside  him,  de- 
nuded of  its  glass  bell,  stood  one  of  the  miraculous 
skulls.  The  first  Russian  approached,  knelt,  crossed 
himself  devoutly,  and  received  from  the  priest  the 
sign  of  the  cross  on  his  brow,  administered  with  a 
soft,  small  brush  dipped  in  the  oil  from  the  skull. 
Then  he  kissed  the  priest's  hand,  crossed  himself 
again,  and  kissed  the  skull.  When  we  beheld  this, 
we  modestly  stood  aside,  and  allowed  our  compan- 
ions, the  other  four  Russian  men,  to  receive  anoint- 
ment in  like  manner,  and  pass  on  after  the  monk, 


228  A  RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

who  was  in  haste  to  return  to  bis  bank  vault.  As  I 
approached  the  priest,  he  raised  his  brush. 

"  We  are  not  Orthodox  Christians,  bdtiushka,"  l 
I  said.  "  But  pray  give  us  your  blessing." 

He  smiled,  and,  dropping  his  brush,  made  the  sign 
of  the  cross  over  us.  I  was  perfectly  willing  to  kiss 
his  pretty,  plump  hand,  —  I  had  become  very  skillful 
at  that  sort  of  thing,  —  but  I  confess  that  I  shrank 
from  the  obligatory  salute  to  the  skull,  and  from  that 
special  chrism.  Nevertheless,  I  wished  the  Russians 
to  think  that  I  had  gone  through  with  the  whole  cere- 
mony, if  they  should  chance  to  look  back.  I  felt 
sure  that  I  could  trust  the  priest  to  be  liberal,  but  I 
was  not  so  certain  that  our  lay  companions,  who  were 
petty  traders  and  peasants,  might  not  be  sufficiently 
fanatical  to  construe  our  refusal  into  disrespect  for 
their  church,  and  resent  it  in  some  way. 

Though  we  returned  to  the  monastery  more  than 
once  after  that,  we  were  never  attracted  to  the  cata- 
combs again,  not  even  to  witness  the  mass  at  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning  in  that  subterranean  church. 
The  beautiful  services  in  the  cathedral,  the  stately 
monks,  the  picturesque  pilgrims,  with  their  gentle 
manners,  ingenuous  questions,  and  simple  tales  of 
their  journeys  and  beliefs,  furnished  us  with  abun- 
dant interest  in  the  cheerful  sunlight  aboveground. 

Next  to  the  Catacombs  Monastery,  the  other  most 
famous  and  interesting  sight  of  Kieff  is  the  Cathe- 
dral of  St.  Sophia.  Built  on  the  highest  point  of  the 
ancient  city,  with  nine  apses  turned  to  the  east, 
crowned  by  one  large  dome  and  fourteen  smaller 
domes,  —  all  gilded,  some  terminating  in  crosses, 
some  in  sunbursts,  —  surrounded  by  turf  and  trees 
1  Little  father. 


A  RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  229 

within  a  white  wall,  with  entrance  under  a  lofty  bel- 
fry, it  produces  an  imposing  but  reposeful  effect. 
The  ancient  walls,  dating  from  the  year  1020,  are 
of  red  brick  intermixed  with  stone,  stuccoed  and 
washed  with  white.  It  has  undergone  changes,  ex- 
ternal and  internal,  since  that  day,  and  its  domes 
and  spires  are  of  the  usual  degenerate  South  Rus- 
sian type,  without  a  doubt  of  comparatively  recent 
construction.  So  many  of  its  windows  have  been 
blocked  up  by  additions,  and  so  cut  up  is  its  space 
by  large  frescoed  pillars,  into  sixteen  sections,  that 
one  steps  from  brilliant  sunshine  into  deep  twilight 
when  he  enters  the  cathedral.  It  is  a  sort  of  church 
which  possesses  in  a  high  degree  that  indefinable 
charm  of  sacred  atmosphere  that  tempts  one  to  linger 
on  and  on  indefinitely  within  its  precincts.  Not  that 
it  is  so  magnificent ;  many  churches  in  the  two  capi- 
tals and  elsewhere  in  Russia  are  far  richer.  It  is 
simply  one  of  those  indescribable  buildings  which 
console  one  for  disappointments  in  historical  places, 
as  a  rule,  by  making  one  believe,  through  sensations 
unconsciously  influenced,  not  through  any  effort  of 
the  reason,  that  ancient  deeds  and  memories  do,  in 
truth,  linger  about  their  birthplace. 

Ancient  frescoes,  discovered  about  forty  years  ago, 
some  remaining  in  their  original  state,  others  touched 
np  with  more  or  less  skill  and  knowledge,  mingle 
harmoniously  with  those  of  more  recent  date.  Very 
singular  are  the  best  preserved,  representing  hunting 
parties  and  banquets  of  the  Grand  Princes,  and  scenes 
from  the  earthly  life  of  Christ.  But  they  are  on  the 
staircase  leading  to  the  old-fashioned  gallery,  and  do 
not  disturb  the  devotional  character  of  the  decora- 
tion in  the  church  itself. 


230  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

From  the  wall  of  the  apse  behind  the  chief  of  the 
ten  altars  gazes  down  the  striking  image  of  the  Vir- 
gin, executed  in  ancient  mosaic,  with  her  hands  raised 
in  prayer,  whom  the  people  reverently  call  "  The 
Indestructible  Wall."  This,  with  other  mosaics  and 
the  frescoes  on  the  staircase,  dates  from  the  eleventh 
century. 

I  stood  among  the  pillars,  a  little  removed  from  the 
principal  aisle,  one  afternoon  near  sunset,  listening 
to  the  melodious  intoning  of  the  priest,  and  the  soft 
chanting  of  the  small  week-day  choir  at  vespers,  and 
wondering,  for  the  thousandth  time,  why  Protestants 
who  wish  to  intone  do  not  take  lessons  from  those 
incomparable  masters  in  the  art,  the  Russian  dea- 
cons, and  wherein  lies  the  secret  of  the  Russian  ec- 
clesiastical music.  That  simple  music,  so  perfectly 
fitted  for  church  use,  will  bring  the  most  callous  into 
a  devotional  mood  long  before  the  end  of  the  service. 
Rendered  as  it  invariably  is  by  male  voices,  with 
superb  basses  in  place  of  the  non-existent  organ,  it 
spoils  one's  taste  forever  for  the  elaborate,  operatic 
church  music  of  the  West  performed  by  choirs  which 
are  usually  engaged  in  vocal  steeplechases  with  the 
organ  for  the  enhancement  of  the  evil  effects.  My 
meditations  were  interrupted  by  the  approach  of  a 
young  man,  who  asked  me  to  be  his  godmother ! 
He  explained  that  he  was  a  Jew  from  Minsk,  who 
had  never  studied  "  his  own  religion,"  and  was  now 
come  to  Kieff  for  the  express  purpose  of  getting  him- 
self baptized  by  the  name  of  Vladimir,  the  tenth- 
century  prince  and  patron  saint  of  the  town.  As  he 
had  no  acquaintances  in  the  place,  he  was  in  a  strait 
for  god-parents,  who  were  indispensable. 

"  I  cannot  be  your  godmother,"  I  answered.     "  I 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  231 

am  neither  pravosldvnaya  nor  Russian.  Cannot  the 
priest  find  sponsors  for  you  ?  " 

"  That  is  not  the  priest's  place.  His  business  is 
merely  to  baptize.  But  perhaps  he  might  be  per- 
suaded to  manage  that  also,  if  I  had  better  clothes." 

He  wore  a  light  print  shirt,  tolerably  clean,  belted 
outside  his  dark  trousers,  and  his  shoes  and  cap  were 
respectable  enough. 

I  recalled  instances  which  I  had  heard  from  the 
best  authority  —  a  priest  —  of  priests  finding  spon- 
sors for  Jews,  and  receiving  medals  or  orders  in  re- 
ward for  their  conversion.  I  recalled  an  instance 
related  to  me  by  a  Russian  friend  who  had  acted,  at 
the  priest's  request,  as  godmother  to  a  Jewess  so  fat 
that  she  stuck  fast  in  the  receptacle  used  for  the 
baptism  by  immersion ;  and  I  questioned  the  man 
a  little.  He  said  that  he  had  a  sister  living  in  New 
York,  and  gave  me  her  name  and  address  in  a  manner 
which  convinced  me  that  he  knew  what  he  was  say- 
ing. He  had  no  complaint  to  make  of  his  treatment 
by  either  Russians  or  Jews;  and  when  I  asked  him 
why  he  did  not  join  his  sister  in  America,  he  replied, 

"  Why  should  I  ?     I  am  well  enough  off  here." 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  state  that  he  was  a  plumber 
by  trade.  On  the  other  hand,  justice  demands  the 
explanation  that  Russian  plumbing  in  general  is  not 
of  a  very  complicated  character,  and  in  Minsk  it  must 
be  of  a  very  simple  kind,  I  think. 

He  intended  to  return  to  Minsk  as  soon  as  he  was 
baptized.  How  he  expected  to  attend  the  Russian 
Church  in  Minsk  when  he  had  found  it  inexpedient 
to  be  baptized  there  was  one  of  the  points  which  he 
omitted  to  explain. 

I  was  at  last  obliged  to  bid  him  a  decisive  "good- 


232  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY. 

day,"  and  leave  the  church.  He  followed,  and  passed 
me  in  the  garden,  his  cap  cocked  jauntily  over  his 
tight  bronze  curls,  and  his  hips  swaying  from  side  to 
side  in  harmony.  Under  the  long  arch  of  the  belfry- 
tower  gate  hung  a  picture,  adapted  to  use  as  an 
iktina,  which  set  forth  how  a  mother  had  accidentally 
dropped  her  baby  overboard  from  a  boat  on  the 
Dnye'pr,  and  coming,  disconsolate,  to  pray  before  the 
image  of  St.  Nicholas,  the  patron  of  travelers,  she 
had  found  her  child  lying  there  safe  and  sound ; 
whence  this  holy  picture  is  known  by  the  name  of 
St.  Nicholas  the  Wet. 

Before  this  ik6na  my  Jew  pulled  off  his  cap,  and 
crossed  himself  rapidly  and  repeatedly,  watching  me 
out  of  the  corner  of  his  eye,  meanwhile,  to  see  how 
his  piety  impressed  me.  It  produced  no  particular 
effect  upon  me,  except  to  make  me  engage  a  smart- 
looking  cabby  to  take  me  to  my  hotel,  close  by,  by  a 
roundabout  route.  Whether  this  Jew  returned  to 
Minsk  as  Vladimir  or  as  Isaac  I  do  not  know  ;  but  I 
made  a  point  of  mentioning  the  incident  to  several 
Russian  friends,  including  a  priest,  and  learned,  to 
my  surprise,  that,  though  I  was  not  a  member  of 
a  Russian  Church,  I  could  legally  have  stood  god- 
mother to  a  man,  though  I  could  not  have  done  so 
to  a  woman  ;  and  that  a  godmother  could  have  been 
dispensed  with.  Men  who  are  not  members  of  the 
Russian  Church  can,  in  like  manner,  stand  as  god- 
fathers to  women,  but  not  to  men.  Moreover,  every 
one  seemed  to  doubt  the  probability  of  a  Jew  quit- 
ting his  own  religion  in  earnest,  and  they  thought 
that  his  object  had  been  to  obtain  from  me  a  suit  of 
clothes,  practical  gifts  to  the  godchild  being  the  cus- 
tom in  such  cases.  I  had  been  too  dull  to  take  the 
hint ! 


A   RUSSIAN  HOLY  CITY.  233 

A  few  months  later,  a  St.  Petersburg  newspaper 
related  a  notorious  instance  of  a  Jew  who  had  been 
sufficiently  clever  to  get  himself  baptized  a  number 
of  times,  securing  on  each  occasion  wealthy  and  gen- 
erous sponsors.  Why  the  man  from  Minsk  sfiould 
have  selected  me,  in  my  plain  serge  traveling  gown, 
I  cannot  tell,  unless  it  was  because  he  saw  that  I 
did  not  wear  the  garb  of  the  Russian  merchant  class, 
or  look  like  them,  and  observation  or  report  had 
taught  him  that  the  aristocratic  classes  above  the 
merchants  are  most  susceptible  to  the  pleasure  of 
patronizing  converts;  though  to  do  them  justice, 
Russians  make  no  attempt  at  converting  people  to 
their  church.  I  have  been  assured  by  a  Russian  Jew 
that  his  co-religionists  never  do,  really,  change  their 
faith.  Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  they 
can  even  be  supposed  to  do  so,  in  the  face  of  their 
strong  traditions,  in  which  they  are  so  thoroughly 
drilled.  Therefore,  if  Russians  stand  sponsors  to 
Jews,  while  expressing  skepticism  as  to  conversion 
in  general,  they  cannot  complain  if  unscrupulous  per- 
sons take  advantage  of  their  inconsistency.  I  should 
probably  have  refused  to  act  as  godmother,  even  had 
I  known  that  I  was  legally  entitled  to  do  so. 

Our  searches  in  the  lower  town,  Podol,  for  rugs 
like  those  in  the  monastery  resulted  in  nothing  but 
amusement.  Those  rugs  had  been  made  in  the  old 
days  of  serfdom,  on  private  estates,  and  are  not  to 
be  bought. 

By  dint  of  loitering  about  in  the  churches,  mon- 
asteries, catacombs,  markets,  listening  to  that  Little 
Russian  dialect  which  is  so  sweet  on  the  lips  of  the 
natives,  though  it  looks  so  uncouth  when  one  sees 
their  ballads  in  print,  and  by  gazing  out  over  the 


234  A   RUSSIAN  HOLY   CITY. 

ever  beautiful  river  and  steppe,  I  came  at  last  to  par- 
don Kieff  for  its  progress.  1  got  my  historical  and 
mythological  bearings.  I  felt  the  spirit  of  the  Epic 
Songs  stealing  over  me.  I  settled  in  my  own  mind 
the  tite  of  Fair-Sun  Prince  Vladimir's  palace  of 
white  stone,  the  scene  of  great  feasts,  where  he  and 
his  mighty  heroes  quaffed  the  green  wine  by  the 
bucketful,  and  made  their  great  brags,  which  resulted 
so  tragically  or  so  ludicrously.  I  was  sure  I  recog- 
nized the  church  where  Diuk  Stepanovitch  "  did  not 
so  much  pray  as  gaze  about,"  and  indulged  in  men- 
tal comments  upon  clothes  and  manners  at  the  Easter 
mass,  after  a  fashion  which  is  not  yet  obsolete.  I 
imagined  that  I  descried  in  the  blue  dusk  of  the  dis- 
tant steppe  Ily&  of  Murom  approaching  on  his  good 
steed  Cloudfall,  armed  with  a  damp  oak  uprooted 
from  Damp  Mother  Earth,  and  dragging  at  his  sad- 
dle-bow fierce,  hissing  Nightingale  the  Robber,  with 
one  eye  still  fixed  on  Kieff,  one  on  Tcbernigoff,  after 
his  special  and  puzzling  habit,  and  whom  Little  Rus- 
sian tradition  declares  was  chopped  up  into  poppy 
seeds,  whence  spring  the  sweet-voiced  nightingales 
of  the  present  day. 

The  "  atmosphere  "  of  the  cradle  of  the  Epic  Songs 
and  of  the  cradle  of  Pravosl&vnaya  Russia  laid  its 
spell  upon  me  on  those  heights,  and  even  the  sight 
of  the  cobweb  suspension  bridge  in  all  its  modern- 
ness  did  not  disturb  me,  since  with  it  is  connected 
one  of  the  most  charming  modern  traditions,  a  classic 
in  the  language,  which  only  a  perfect  artist  could 
have  planned  and  executed. 

The  thermometer  stood  at  120°  Fahrenheit  when 
we  took  our  last  look  at  Kieff,  the  Holy  City. 


X. 

A  JOURNEY   ON   THE    VOLGA. 


WE  had  seen  the  Russian  haying  on  the  estate  of 
Count  Tolst6y.  We  were  to  be  initiated  into  the 
remaining  processes  of  the  agricultural  season  in  that 
famous  "  black  earth  zone  "  which  has  been  the  gran- 
ary of  Europe  from  time  immemorial,  but  which  is 
also,  alas !  periodically  the  seat  of  dire  famine. 

It  was  July  when  we  reached  Nizhni  Novgorod, 
on  our  way  to  an  estate  on  the  Volga,  in  this  "  black 
earth  "  grainfield,  vast  as  the  whole  of  France ;  but 
the  flag  of  opening  would  not  be  run  up  for  some 
time  to  come.  The  Fair  quarter  of  the  town  was 
still  in  its  state  of  ten  months'  hibernation,  under 
padlock  and  key,  and  the  normal  town,  effective  as 
it  was,  with  its  white  Kremlin  crowning  the  turfed 
and  terraced  heights,  possessed  few  charms  to  detain 
us.  We  embarked  for  Kazan. 

If  Kazan  is  an  article  in  the  creed  of  all  Russians, 
whether  they  have  ever  seen  it  or  not,  Matushka 
V<51ga  (dear  Mother  Volga)  is  a  complete  system  of 
faith.  Certainly  her  services  in  building  up  and  bind- 
ing together  the  empire  merit  it,  though  the  section 
thus  usually  referred  to  comprises  only  the  stretch 
between  Nizhni  Novgorod  and  Astrakhan,  despite  its 
historical  and  commercial  importance  above  the  former 
town. 


236  A   JOURNEY   ON  THE    VOLGA. 

But  Kaz&n  !  A  stay  there  of  a  day  and  a  half 
served  to  dispel  our  illusions.  We  were  deceived  in 
our  expectations  as  to  the  once  mighty  capital  of  the 
imperial  Tatar  khans.  The  recommendations  of  our 
Russian  friends,  the  glamour  of  history  which  had 
bewitched  us,  the  hope  of  the  Western  for  some- 
thing Oriental,  —  all  these  elements  had  combined 
to  raise  our  expectations  in  a  way  against  which  our 
sober  senses  and  previous  experience  should  have 
warned  us.  It  seemed  to  us  merely  a  flourishing  and 
animated  Russian  provincial  town,  whose  Kremlin 
was  eclipsed  by  that  of  Moscow,  and  whose  univer- 
sity had  instructed,  but  not  graduated,  Count  Tol- 
stoy, the  novelist.  The  bazaar  under  arcades,  the 
popular  market  in  the  open  square,  the  public  gar- 
den, the  shops,  —  all  were  but  a  repetition  of  similar 
features  in  other  towns,  somewhat  magnified  to  the 
proportions  befitting  the  dignity  of  the  home  port  of 
the  Ural  Mountains  and  Siberia. 

The  Tatar  quarter  alone  seemed  to  possess  the 
requisite  mystery  and  "  local  color."  Here  whole 
streets  of  tiny  shops,  ablaze  with  rainbow-hued  leather 
goods,  were  presided  over  by  taciturn,  olive-skinned 
brothers  of  the  Turks,  who  appeared  almost  hand- 
some when  seen  thus  in  masses,  with  opportunities 
for  comparison.  Hitherto  we  had  thought  of  the 
Tatars  only  as  the  old-clothes  dealers,  peddlers,  horse- 
butchers,  and  waiters  of  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow. 
Here  the  dignity  of  the  prosperous  merchants,  gravely 
recommending  their  really  well-dressed,  well-sewed 
leather  wares,  bespoke  our  admiration. 

The  Tatar  women,  less  easily  seen,  glided  along 
the  uneven  pavements  now  and  then,  smoothly,  but 
still  in  a  manner  to  permit  a  glimpse  of  short,  square 


A   JOURNEY  ON  THE   VOLGA.  237 

feet  incased  in  boots  flowered  with  gay  hues  upon  a 
green  or  rose-colored  ground,  and  reaching  to  the 
knee.  They  might  have  been  houris  of  beauty,  but 
it  was  difficult  to  classify  them,  veiled  as  they  were, 
and  screened  as  to  head  and  shoulders  by  striped 
green  kaftdns  of  silk,  whose  long  sleeves  depended 
from  the  region  of  their  ears,  and  whose  collar  rested 
on  the  brow.  What  we  could  discern  was  that  their 
black  eyes  wandered  like  the  eyes  of  unveiled  women, 
and  that  they  were  coquettishly  conscious  of  our 
glances,  though  we  were  of  their  own  sex. 

We  found  nothing  especially  striking  among  the 
churches,  unless  one  might  reckon  the  Tatar  mosques 
in  the  list ;  and,  casting  a  last  glance  at  Sumbeka's 
curious  and  graceful  tower,  we  hired  a  cabman  to 
take  us  to  the  river,  seven  versts  away. 

We  turned  our  backs  upon  Kaz&n  without  regret, 
in  the  fervid  heat  of  that  midsummer  morning.  We 
did  not  shake  its  dust  from  our  feet.  When  dust 
is  ankle-deep  that  is  not  very  feasible.  It  rose  in 
clouds,  as  we  met  the  long  lines  of  Tatar  carters, 
transporting  flour  and  other  merchandise  to  and  from 
the  wharves  across  the  "  dam  "  which  connects  the 
town,  in  summer  low  water,  with  Mother  Volga. 
In  spring  floods  Matushka  V61ga  threatens  to  wash 
away  the  very  walls  of  the  Kremlin,  and  our  present 
path  is  under  water. 

Fate  had  favored  us  with  a  clever  cabman.  His 
shaggy  little  horse  was  as  dusty  in  hue  as  his  own 
coat,  —  a  most  unusual  color  for  coat  of  either  Rus- 
sian horse  or  izvtisteliik.  The  man's  armydk  was 
bursting  at  every  seam,  not  with  plenty,  but,  since 
extremes  meet,  with  hard  times,  which  are  the  chronic 
complaint  of  Kazdn,  so  he  affirmed.  He  was  gentle 


238  A   JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA. 

and  sympathetic,  like  most  Russian  cabmen,  and  be 
beguiled  our  long  drive  with  shrewd  comments  on  the 
Russian  and  Tatar  inhabitants  and  their  respective 
qualities. 

"  The  Tatars  are  good  people,"  he  said  ;  "  very 
clean,  —  cleaner  than  Russians ;  very  quiet  and  peace- 
able citizens.  There  was  a  time  when  they  were  not 
quiet.  That  was  ten  years  ago,  during  the  war  with 
Turkey.  They  were  disturbed.  The  Russians  said 
that  it  was  a  holy  war ;  the  Tatars  said  so,  too,  and 
wished  to  fight  for  their  brethren  of  the  Moslem 
faith.  But  the  governor  was  not  a  man  to  take 
fright  at  that.  He  summoned  the  chief  men  among 
them  before  him.  '  See  here,'  says  he.  '  With  me 
you  can  be  peaceable  with  better  conscience.  If  you. 
permit  your  people  to  be  turbulent,  I  will  pave  the 
dam  with  the  heads  of  Tatars.  The  dam  is  long. 
Allah  is  my  witness.  Enough.  Go  ! '  And  it  came 
to  nothing,  of  course.  No;  it  was  only  a  threat, 
though  they  knew  that  he  was  a  strong  man  in  rule. 
Why  should  he  wish  to  do  that,  really,  even  if  they 
were  not  Orthodox  ?  A  man  is  born  with  his  re- 
ligion as  with  his  skin.  The  Orthodox  live  at  peace 
with  the  Tat&rs.  And  the  Tatars  are  superior  to  the 
Russians  in  this,  also,  that  they  all  stick  by  each 
other  ;  whereas  a  Russian,  Hdspodi  pomilui  !  [Lord 
have  mercy]  thinks  of  himself  alone,  which  is  a  dis- 
advantage," said  my  humble  philosopher. 

We  found  that  we  had  underrated  the  power  of 
our  man's  little  horse,  and  had  arrived  at  the  river 
an  hour  and  a  half  before  the  steamer  was  appointed 
to  sail.  It  should  be  there  lading,  however,  and  we 
decided  to  go  directly  on  board  and  wait  in  comfort. 
We  gave  patient  Vanka  liberal  "  tea-money."  Hard 


A  JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA.  239 

times  were  evidently  no  fiction  so  far  as  he  was 
concerned,  and  we  asked  if  he  meant  to  spend  it  on 
vtidka,  which  elicited  fervent  asseverations  of  tee- 
totalism,  as  he  thrust  his  buckskin  pouch  into  his 
breast. 

Descending  in  the  deep  dust,  with  a  sense  of  grat- 
itude that  it  was  not  mixed  with  rain,  we  ran  the 
gauntlet  of  the  assorted  peddlers  stationed  on  both 
sides  of  the  long  descent  with  stocks  of  food,  soap, 
white  felt  boots,  gay  sashes,  coarse  leather  slippers 
too  large  for  human  wear,  and  other  goods,  and 
reached  the  covered  wharf.  The  steamer  was  not 
there,  but  we  took  it  calmly,  and  asked  no  questions 
—  for  a  space. 

We  whiled  away  the  time  by  chaffering  with  the 
persistent  Tatar  venders  for  things  which  we  did  not 
want,  and  came  into  amazed  possession  of  some  of 
them.  This  was  a  tribute  to  our  powers  of  bargain- 
ing which  had  rarely  been  paid  even  when  we  had 
been  in  earnest.  We  contrived  to  avoid  the  bars  of 
yellow  "  egg  soap  "  by  inquiring  for  one  of  the  mar- 
vels of  Kazan,  —  soap  made  from  mare's  milk.  An 
amused  apothecary  had  already  assured  us  that  it  was 
a  product  of  the  too  fertile  brain  of  Baedeker,  not  of 
the  local  soap  factories.  May  Baedeker  himself,  some 
day,  reap  a  similar  harvest  of  mirth  and  astonishment 
from  the  sedate  Tatars,  who  can  put  mare's  milk  to 
much  better  use  as  a  beverage ! 

In  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  conversation-lesson  in 
Tatar,  we  bought  a  Russo-Tatar  grammar,  warranted 
to  deliver  over  all  the  secrets  of  that  gracefully 
curved  language  in  the  usual  scant  array  of  pages. 
But  the  peddler  immediately  professed  as  profound 
ignorance  of  Tatar  as  he  had  of  Russian  a  few  mo- 


240  A   JOURNEY  ON   THE   VOLGA. 

ments  before,  when  requested  to  abate  his  exorbitant 
demands  for  the  pamphlet. 

By  the  time  we  had  exhausted  these  resources  one 
o'clock  had  arrived.  The  steamer  had  not.  The 
office  clerk  replied  to  all  inquiries  with  the  languid 
national  "  saytchds"  which  the  dictionary  defines  as 
meaning  "  immediately,"  but  which  experience  proves 
to  signify,  "  Be  easy ;  any  time  this  side  of  eternity, 
—  if  perfectly  convenient !"  Under  the  pressure  of 
increasingly  vivacious  attacks,  prompted  by  hunger, 
he  finally  condescended  to  explain  that  the  big  mail 
steamer,  finding  too  little  water  in  the  channel,  had 
"  sat  down  on  a  sand-bank,"  and  that  two  other 
steamers  were  trying  to  pull  her  off.  "  She  might 
be  along  at  three  o'clock,  or  later,  —  or  some  time." 
It  began  to  be  apparent  to  us  why  the  success  of  the 
Fair  depends,  in  great  measure,  on  the  amount  of 
water  in  the  river. 

Our  first  meal  of  bread  and  tea  had  been  eaten  at 
seven  o'clock,  and  we  had  counted  upon  breakfasting 
on  the  steamer,  where  some  of  the  best  public  cook- 
ing in  the  country,  especially  in  the  matter  of  fish, 
is  to  be  found.  It  was  now  two  o'clock.  The  town 
was  distant.  The  memory  of  the  ducks,  the  size  o£ 
a  plover,  and  other  things  in  proportion,  in  which  our 
strenuous  efforts  had  there  resulted,  did  not  tempt 
us  to  return.  Russians  have  a  way  of  slaying  chick- 
ens and  other  poultry  almost  in  the  shell,  to  serve  as 
game. 

Accordingly,  we  organized  a  search  expedition 
among  the  peddlers,  and  in  the  colony  of  rainbow- 
hued  shops  planted  in  a  long  street  across  the  heads 
of  the  wharves,  and  filled  chiefly  with  Tatars  and 
coarse  Tatar  wares.  For  the  equivalent  of  seventeen 


A   JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA.  241 

cents  we  secured  a  quart  of  rich  cream,  half  a  dozen 
hard-boiled  eggs,  a  couple  of  pounds  of  fine  raspber- 
ries, and  a  large  fresh  wheaten  roll.  These  we  ate  in 
courses,  as  we  perched  on  soap-boxes  and  other  un- 
conventional seats,  surrounded  by  smoked  fish,  casks 
of  salted  cucumbers,  festoons  of  dried  mushrooms, 
"  cartwheels  "  of  sour  black  bread,  and  other  favor- 
ite edibles,  in  the  open-fronted  booths.  A  delicious 
banquet  it  was, — one  of  those  which  recur  to  the 
memory  unbidden  when  more  elaborate  meals  have 
been  forgotten. 

Returning  to  the  wharf  with  a  fresh  stock  of  pa- 
tience, we  watched  the  river  traffic  and  steamers  of 
rival  lines,  which  had  avoided  sand-banks,  as  they 
took  in  their  fuel  supplies  of  refuse  petroleum  from 
the  scows  anchored  in  mid-stream,  and  proceeded  on 
their  voyage  to  Astrakhan.  Some  wheelbarrow 
steamers,  bearing  familiar  names,  "  Niagara "  and- 
the  like,  pirouetted  about  in  awkward  and  apparently 
aimless  fashion. 

Passengers  who  seemed  to  be  better  informed  than 
we  as  to  the  ways  of  steamers  began  to  make  their 
appearance.  A  handsome  officer  deposited  his  red- 
cotton-covered  traveling-pillow  and  luggage  on  the 
dock  and  strolled  off,  certain  that  no  one  would  un- 
lock his  trunk  or  make  way  with  his  goods.  The 
trunk,  not  unusual  in  style,  consisted  of  a  red-and- 
white  tea-cloth,  whose  knotted  corners  did  not  wholly 
repress  the  exuberance  of  linen  and  other  %  effects 
through  the  bulging  edges. 

A  young  Tatar,  endowed  with  india-rubber  capa- 
bilities in  the  way  of  attitudes,  and  with  a  volubility 
surely  unrivaled  in  all  taciturn  Kazan,  chatted  in- 
terminably with  a  young  Russian  woman,  evidently 


242  A   JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA. 

the  wife  of  a  petty  shopkeeper.  They  bore  the  in- 
tense heat  with  equal  equanimity,  but  their  equanim- 
ity was  clad  in  oddly  contrasting  attire.  The  woman 
looked  cool  and  indifferent  buttoned  up  in  a  long 
wadded  pelisse,  with  a  hot  cotton  kerchief  tied  close 
over  ears,  under  chin,  and  tucked  in  at  the  neck. 
The  Tatar  squatted  on  his  haunches,  folded  in  three 
nearly  equal  parts.  A  spirally  ribbed  flat  fez  of 
dark  blue  velvet,  topped  with  a  black  silk  tassel, 
adorned  his  cleanly  shaven  head.  His  shirt,  of  the 
coarsest  linen,  was  artistically  embroidered  in  black, 
yellow,  and  red  silks  and  green  linen  thread  in  Tura- 
nian designs,  and  ornamented  with  stripes  and  dia- 
monds of  scarlet  cotton  bestowed  unevenly  in  unex- 
pected places.  It  lay  open  on  his  dusky  breast,  and 
fell  unconfined  over  full  trousers  of  home-made  dark 
blue  linen  striped  with  red,  like  the  gussets  under 
the  arms  of  his  white  shirt.  The  trousers  were 
tucked  into  high  boots,  slightly  wrinkled  at  the  in- 
step, with  an  inset  of  pebbled  horsehide,  frosted- 
green  in  hue,  at  the  heels.  This  green  leather  was  a 
part  of  their  religion,  the  Tatars  told  me,  but  what 
part  they  would  not  reveal.  As  the  soles  were  soft, 
like  socks,  he  wore  over  his  boots  a  pair  of  stiff 
leather  slippers,  which  could  be  easily  discarded  on 
entering  the  mosque,  in  compliance  with  the  Moslem 
law  requiring  the  removal  of  foot-gear. 

Several  peasants  stood  about  silently,  patiently, 
wrapped  in  their  sheepskin  coats.  Apparently  they 
found  this  easier  than  carrying  them,  and  they  were 
ready  to  encounter  the  chill  night  air  in  the  open 
wooden  bunks  of  the  third-class,  or  on  the  floor  of 
the  fourth-class  cabin.  The  soiled  yellow  leather  was 
hooked  close  across  their  breasts,  as  in  winter.  An 


A   JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA.  243 

occasional  movement  displayed  the  woolly  interior  of 
the  tulup's  short,  full  ballet  skirt  attached  to  the 
tight-fitting  body.  The  peasants  who  thus  tranquilly 
endured  the  heat  of  fur  on  a  midsummer  noon  would, 
did  circumstances  require  it,  bear  the  piercing  cold 
of  winter  with  equal  calmness  clad  in  cotton  shirts, 
or  freeze  to  death  on  sentry  duty  without  a  murmur. 
They  were  probably  on  their  way  to  find  work  dur- 
ing the  harvest  and  earn  a  few  kopeks,  and  very 
likely  would  return  to  their  struggling  families  as 
poor  as  they  went.  As  we  watched  this  impertur- 
bable crowd,  we  became  infected  with  their  spirit  of 
unconcern,  and  entered  into  sympathy  with  the  na- 
tional saytchds,  —  a  case  of  atmospheric  influence. 

At  last  the  steamer  arrived,  none  the  worse  for  its 
encounter  with  the  bar.  Usually,  the  mail  steamers 
halt  three  hours — half-merchandise  steamers  four 
hours  —  at  Kazan  and  other  important  towns  on  the 
Volga,  affording  hasty  travelers  an  opportunity  to 
make  a  swift  survey  in  a  drosky ;  but  on  this  occa- 
sion one  hour  was  made  to  suffice,  and  at  last  we 
were  really  off  on  our  way  to  the  estate  down  the 
river  where  we  were  to  pay  our  long-promised  visit. 

We  were  still  at  a  reach  of  the  river  where  the 
big  steamer  might  sit  down  on  another  reef,  and  the 
men  were  kept  on  guard  at  the  bow,  with  hardly  an 
intermission,  guaging  the  depth  of  the  water  with 
their  striped  poles,  to  guide  the  helmsman  by  their 
monotonous  calls  :  "  V6sim  !  "  "  Sehest-$-polovin6-d-<5- 
iu!"  "/Sim/"  (Eight!  Six  and  a  half!  Seven!) 
They  had  a  little  peculiarity  of  pronunciation  which 
was  very  pleasing.  And  we  soon  discovered  that  into 
shallower  water  than  five  and  a  half  quarters  we 
might  not  venture. 


244  A  JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA. 

The  river  was  extremely  animated  above  the  mouth 
of  the  Kama,  the  great  waterway  from  the  mines  and 
forests  of  the  Ural  and  Siberia.  Now  and  then,  the 
men  on  a  float  heavily  laden  with  iron  bars,  which 
was  being  towed  to  the  Fair  at  Nizhni  Novgorod, 
would  shout  a  request  that  we  would  slacken  speed, 
lest  they  be  swamped  with  our  swell.  Huge  rafts  of 
fine  timber  were  abundant,  many  with  small  chapel- 
like  structures  on  them,  which  were  not  chapels, 
however.  Cattle  steamers  passed,  the  unconfined 
beasts  staring  placidly  over  the  low  guards  of  the 
three  decks,  and  uttering  no  sound.  We  had  already 
learned  that  the  animals  are  as  quiet  as  the  people,  in 
Russia,  the  Great  Silent  Land.  Very  brief  were  our 
halts  at  the  small  landings.  The  villagers,  who  had 
come  down  with  baskets  of  fresh  rolls  and  berries 
and  bottles  of  cream,  to  supply  hungry  passengers 
whose  means  or  inclination  prevented  their  eating 
the  steamer  food,  had  but  scant  opportunity  to  dispose 
of  their  perishable  wares. 

As  the  evening  breeze  freshened,  the  perfume  of 
the  hayfields  was  wafted  from  the  distant  shores  in 
almost  overpowering  force.  The  high  right  bank, 
called  the  Hills,  and  the  low  left  shore,  known  as  the 
Forests,  sank  into  half-transparent  vagueness,  which 
veiled  the  gray  log-built  villages  with  their  tiny  win- 
dows, and  threw  into  relief  against  the  evening  sky 
only  the  green  roofs  and  blue  domes  of  the  churches, 
surmounted  by  golden  crosses,  which  gleamed  last  of 
all  in  the  vanishing  rays  of  sunset.  A  boatload  of 
peasants  rowing  close  in  shore  ;  a  red-shirted  solitary 
figure  straying  along  the  water's  edge ;  tiny  sea-gulls 
darting  and  dipping  in  the  waves  around  the  steamer ; 
a  vista  up  some  wide-mouthed  affluent ;  and  a  great 


A   JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA.  245 

peaceful  stillness  brooding  over  all,  —  such  were  the 
happenings,  too  small  for  incidents,  which  accorded 
perfectly  with  the  character  of  the  Volga.  For  the 
Volga  cannot  be  compared  with  the  Rhine  or  the 
Hudson  in  castles  or  scenery.  It  has,  instead,  a 
grand,  placid  charm  of  its  own,  imperial,  indefinable, 
and  sweet.  One  yields  to  it,  and  subscribes  to  the 
Russian  faith  in  the  grand  river. 

No  one  seemed  to  know  how  much  of  the  lost  time 
would  be  made'  up.  Were  it  spring,  when  Mother 
Volga  runs  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
wide,  taking  the  adjoining  country  into  her  broad 
embrace,  and  steamers  steer  a  bee-line  course  to  their 
landings,  the  officers  might  have  been  able  to  say  at 
what  hour  we  should  reach  our  destination.  As  it 
was,  they  merely  reiterated  the  characteristic  "Ne 
zndem"  (We  don't  know),  which  possesses  plural 
powers  of  irritation  when  uttered  in  the  conventional 
half-drawl.  Perhaps  they  really  did  not  know.  Ow- 
ing to  a  recent  decree  in  the  imperial  navy,  officers 
who  have  served  a  certain  number  of  years  without 
having  accomplished  a  stipulated  amount  of  sea  ser- 
vice are  retired.  Since  the  Russian  war  vessels  are 
not  many,  while  the  Naval  Academy  continues  to 
turn  out  a  large  batch  of  young  officers  every  year, 
the  opportunities  for  effecting  the  requisite  sea  ser- 
vice are  limited.  -The  officers  who  are  retired,  in 
consequence,  seek  positions  on  the  Volga  steamers, 
which  are  sometimes  commanded  by  a  rear-admiral, 
in  the  imperial  uniform,  which  he  is  allowed  to  re- 
tain, in  addition  to  receiving  a  grade.  But  if  one 
chances  upon  them  during  their  first  season  on  the 
river,  their  information  is  not  equal  to  their  fine  ap- 
pearance, since  Mother  Volga  must  be  studied  in  her 


246  A   JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA. 

caprices,  and  navigation  is  open  only,  on  the  average, 
between  the  12th  of  April  and  the  24th  of  Novem- 
ber. Useless  to  interrogate  the  old  river  dogs  among 
the  subordinates.  The  "  We  don't  know  "  is  even 
more  inveterate  with  them,  and  it  is  reinforced  with 
the  just  comment,  "  We  are  not  the  masters." 

Knowing  nothing,  in  the  general  uncertainty,  ex- 
cept that  we  must  land  some  time  during  the  night, 
we  were  afraid  to  make  ourselves  comfortable  even  to 
the  extent  of  unpacking  sheets  to  cool  off  the  velvet 
divans,  which  filled  two  sides  of  our  luxurious  cabin. 
When  we  unbolted  the  movable  panels  from  the 
slatted  door  and  front  wall,  to  establish  a  draft  of 
fresh  air  from  the  window,  a  counter-draft  was  set  up 
of  electric  lights,  supper  clatter,  cigarette  smoke,  and 
chatter,  renewed  at  every  landing  with  the  fresh  ar- 
rivals. We  resolved  to  avoid  these  elegant  mail  steam- 
ers in  the  future,  and  patronize  the  half-merchandise 
boats  of  the  same  line,  which  are  not  much  slower, 
and  possess  the  advantage  of  staterooms  opening  on 
a  corridor,  not  on  the  saloon,  and  are  fitted  with  sky- 
lights, so  that  one  can  have  fresh  air  and  quiet  sleep. 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  landed.  The 
local  policeman,  whose  duty  it  is  to  meet  steamers, 
gazed  at  us  with  interest.  The  secret  of  his  medita- 
tions we  learned  later.  He  thought  of  offering  us 
his  services.  "  They  looked  like  strangers,  but  talked 
Russian,"  he  said.  The  combination  was  too  much 
for  him,  and,  seeing  that  we  were  progressing  well  in 
our  bargain  for  a  conveyance,  he  withdrew,  and 
probably  solved  the  riddle  with  the  aid  of  the  post- 
boy. 

The  estate  for  which  we  were  bound  lay  thirty-five 
versts  distant ;  but  fearing  that  we  might  reach  it  too 


A  JOURNEY   ON   THE    VOLGA.  247 

early  if  we  were  to  start  at  once,  I  ordered  an  equi- 
page for  six  o'clock.  I  was  under  the  impression  that 
the  man  from  the  posting- house  had  settled  it  for  us 
that  we  required  a  pair  of  horses,  attached  to  what- 
ever he  thought  fit,  and  that  I  had  accepted  his  dic- 
tation. The  next  thing  to  do,  evidently,  was  to 
adopt  the  Russian  stop-gap  of  tea. 

The  wharfinger,  who  occupied  a  tiny  tenement  on 
one  end  of  the  dock,  supplied  us  with  a  bubbling 
samovar,  sugar,  and  china,  since  we  were  not  travel- 
ing in  strictly  Russian  style,  with  a  fragile-nosed  tea- 
pot and  glasses.  We  got  out  our  tea,  steeped  and 
sipped  it,  nibbling  at  a  bit  of  bread,  in  that  indifferent 
manner  which"  one  unconsciously  acquires  in  Russia. 
It  is  only  by  such  experience  that  one  comes  to  un- 
derstand the  full  —  or  rather  scanty  —  significance 
of  that  puzzling  and  oft-recurring  phrase  in  Russian 
novels,  "  drinking  tea." 

As  we  were  thus  occupied  in  one  of  the  cells,  fur- 
nished with  a  table  and  two  hard  stuffed  benches,  to 
accommodate  waiting  passengers,  our  postboy  thrust 
his  head  in  at  the  door  and  began  the  subject  of  the 
carriage  all  over  again.  I  repeated  my  orders.  He 
said,  u  Khdrashti"  (Good),  and  disappeared.  We 
dallied  over  our  tea.  We  watched  the  wharfinger's 
boys  trying  to  drown  themselves  in  a  cranky  boat, 
like  the  young  male  animals  of  all  lands;  we  listened 
to  their  shrill  little  songs;  we  counted  the  ducks, 
gazed  at  the  peasants  assembled  on  the  brow  of  the 
steep  hill  above  us,  on  which  the  town  was  situated, 
and  speculated  about  the  immediate  future,  until  the 
time  fixed  and  three  quarters  of  an  hour  more  had 
elapsed.  The  wharfinger's  reply  to  my  impatient 
questions  was  an  unvarying  apathetic  "We  don't 


248  A   JOURNEY  ON    THE   VOLGA. 

know,"  and,  spurred  to  action  by  tins,  I  set  out  to 
find  the  posting-house. 

It  was  not  far  away,  but  my  repeated  and  vigorous 
knocks  upon  the  door  of  the  izba  (cottage),  orna- 
mented with  the  imperial  eagle  and  the  striped  pole, 
received  no  response.  I  pushed  open  the  big  gate  of 
the  courtyard  alongside,  and  entered.  Half  the  court 
was  roofed  over  with  thatch.  In  the  far  corner,  di- 
vorced wagon  bodies,  running-gear,  and  harnesses  lay 
heaped  on  the  earth.  A  horse,  which  was  hitched  to 
something  unsubstantial  among  those  fragments,  came 
forward  to  welcome  me.  A  short  row  of  wagon  mem- 
bers which  had  escaped  divorce,  and  were  united  in 
wheeling  order,  stood  along  the  high  board  fence.  In 
one  of  them,  a  rough  wooden  cart,  shaped  somewhat 
like  a  barrel  sawed  in  two  lengthwise,  pillowed  on 
straw,  but  with  his  legs  hanging  down  in  an  uncom- 
fortable attitude,  lay  my  faithless  postboy  (he  was 
about  forty  years  of  nge)  fast  asleep.  The  neighbor- 
ing vehicle,  which  I  divined  to  be  the  one  intended 
for  us,  was  in  possession  of  chickens.  A  new-laid 
egg  bore  witness  to  their  wakefulness  and  industry. 

While  I  was  engaged  in  an  endeavor  to  rouse  my 
should-be  coachman,  by  tugging  at  his  sleeve  and 
pushing  his  boots  in  the  most  painful  manner  I  could 
devise,  a  good-looking  peasant  woman  made  her 
tardy  appearance  at  the  side  door  of  the  adjoining 
izba,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  the  situation  in  an  impartial, 
impersonal  way.  The  horse  thrust  his  muzzle  gently 
into  his  master's  face  and  roused  him  for  me,  and,  in 
return,  was  driven  away. 

I  demanded  an  explanation.  Extracted  by  bits  in 
conversational  spirals,  it  proved  to  be  that  he  had 
decided  that  the  carriage  needed  three  horses,  which 


A  JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA.  249 

lie  had  known  all  along ;  and,  chiefly,  that  he  had 
desired  to  sleep  upon  a  little  scheme  for  exploiting 
the  strangers.  How  long  he  had  intended  to  pursue 
his  slumberous  meditations  k  is  impossible  to  say. 

He  dragged  me  through  all  the  mazes  of  that  bar- 
gain once  more.  Evidently,  bargaining  was  of  even 
stricter  etiquette  than  my  extensive  previous  acquaint- 
ance had  led  me  to  suspect;  and  I  had  committed 
the  capital  mistake  of  not  complying  with  this  ances- 
tral custom  in  the  beginning.  I  agreed  to  three 
horses,  and  stipulated,  on  my  side,  that  fresh  straw 
should  replace  the  chickens'  nest,  and  that  we  should 
set  out  at  once,  —  not  saytchds,  but  sooner,  "  this  very 
minute." 

I  turned  to  go.  A  fresh  difficulty  arose.  He  would 
not  go  unless  I  would  pay  for  three  relays.  He 
brought  out  the  government  regulations  and  amend- 
ments, —  all  that  had  been  issued  during  the  century, 
I  should  think.  He  stood  over  me  while  I  read  them, 
and  convinced  myself  that  his  "  Yay  B6gu  "  (God  is 
my  witness)  was  accurately  placed.  The  price  of  re- 
lays was,  in  reality,  fixed  by  law  ;  but  though  over- 
affirmation  had  now  aroused  my  suspicions,  in  my 
ignorance  of  the  situation  I  could  not  espy  the  loop- 
hole of  trickery  in  which  I  was  to  be  noosed,  and  I 
agreed  once  more.  More  quibbling.  He  would  not 
stir  unless  he  were  allowed  to  drive  the  same  horses 
the  whole  distance,  though  paid  for  three  relays, 
because  all  the  horses  would  be  away  harvesting, 
and  so  forth  and  so  on.  Goaded  to  assert  myself  in 
some  manner,  to  put  an  end  to  these  interminable 
hagglings,  I  asserted  what  I  did  not  know. 

"  Prince  X.  never  pays  for  these  relays,"  I  declared 
boldly. 


250  A   JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA. 

"  Oh,  no,  he  does  n't,"  replied  the  man,  with  cheer- 
ful frankness.  "  But  you  must,  or  I  '11  not  go." 

That  settled  it ;  I  capitulated  once  more. 

We  had  omitted  to  telegraph  to  our  friends,  partly 
in  order  to  save  them  the  trouble  of  sending  a  car- 
riage, partly  because  we  were  thirsting  for  "experi- 
ences." It  began  to  look  as  though  our  thirst  was 
to  be  quenched  in  some  degree,  since  we  were  in  this 
man's  power  as  to  a  vehicle,  and  it  might  be  true  that 
we  should  not  be  able  to  obtain  any  other  in  the 
town,  or  any  horses  in  the  villages,  if  indeed  there 
were  any  villages.  Fortified  by  another  volley  of 
"  Yay  B6gu"  of  triumphant  fervor,  we  survived  a 
second  wait.  At  last,  near  nine  o'clock,  we  were 
able  to  pack  ourselves  and  our  luggage. 

The  body  of  our  tarantds,  made,  for  the  sake  of 
lightness,  of  woven  elm  withes,  and  varnished  dark 
brown,  was  shaped  not  unlike  a  baby  carriage.  Such 
a  wagon  body  costs  about  eight  dollars  in  Kazan, 
where  great  numbers  of  them  are  made.  It  was 
set  upon  stout,  unpainted  running-gear,  guiltless  of 
springs,  in  cat's-cradle  fashion.  The  step  was  a  slen- 
der iron  stirrup,  which  revolved  in  its  ring  with  tan- 
talizing ease.  It  was  called  a  plettischka,  and  the 
process  of  entering  it  resembled  vaulting  on  horse- 
back. 

Our  larger  luggage  was  tied  on  behind  with  ropes, 
in  precarious  fashion.  The  rest  we  took  inside  and 
deposited  at  our  feet.  As  there  was  no  seat,  we  flat- 
tened ourselves  out  on  the  clean  hay,  and  practiced 
Delsartean  attitudes  of  languor.  Our  three  horses 
were  harnessed  abreast.  The  reins  were  made  in 
part  of  rope ;  so  were  the  traces.  Our  yamtschik 
hud  donned  his  regulation  coat  over  his  red  shirt,  and 


A   JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA.  251 

sat  unblenchingly  through  the  heat.  All  prelimina- 
ries seemed  to  be  settled  at  last.  I  breathed  a  sigh 
of  relief,  as  we  halted  at  the  posting-house  to  pay 
our  dues  in  advance,  and  I  received  several  pounds  of 
copper  coin  in  change,  presumably  that  I  might  pay 
the  non-existent  relays. 

The  trtf'ika  set  off  with  spirit,  and  we  flattered  our- 
selves that  we  should  not  be  long  on  the  road.  This 
being  a  county  town,  there  were  some  stone  official 
buildings  in  addition  to  the  cathedral,  of  which  we 
caught  a  glimpse  in  the  distance.  But  our  road  lay 
through  a  suburb  of  log  cabins,  through  a  large  gate 
in  the  wattled  town  fence,  and  out  upon  the  plain. 

For  nearly  five  hours  we  drove  through  birch  for- 
ests, over  rolling  downs,  through  a  boundless  ocean 
of  golden  rye,  diversified  by  small  patches  of  buck- 
wheat, oats,  millet,  and  wheat.  But  wheat  thrives 
better  in  the  adjoining  government,  and  many  peas- 
ants, we  are  told,  run  away  from  pressing  work  and 
good  wages  at  hand  to  harvest  where  they  will  get 
white  bread  to  eat,  and  return  penniless. 

Here  and  there,  the  small,  weather-beaten  image 
of  some  saint,  its  face  often  indistinguishable  through 
stress  of  storms,  and  shielded  by  a  rough  triangular 
penthouse,  was  elevated  upon  a  pole,  indicating  the 
spot  where  prayers  are  said  for  the  success  of  the 
harvest.  Corn-flowers,  larkspur,  convolvulus,  and 
many  other  flowers  grew  profusely  enough  among 
the  grain  to  come  under  the  head  of  weeds. 

The  transparent  air  allowed  us  vast  vistas  of  dis- 
tant blue  hills  and  nearer  green  valleys,  in  which 
nestled  villages  under  caps  of  thatch,  encircled  by 
red-brown  fences  cleverly  wattled  of  long  boughs.  In 
one  hollow  we  passed  through  a  village  of  the  Tchu- 


252  A   JOURNEY   ON   THE   VOLGA. 

vashi,  a  Turkish  or  Finnish  tribe,  which  was  stranded 
all  along  the  middle  Volga  in  unrecorded  antiquity, 
during  some  of  the  race  migrations  from  the  teem- 
ing plateaux  of  Asia.  The  village  seemed  deserted. 
Only  a  few  small  children  and  grannies  had  been  left 
at  home  by  the  harvesters,  and  they  gazed  curiously 
at  us,  aroused  to  interest  by  the  jingling  harness  with 
its  metal  disks,  and  the  bells  clanging  merrily  from 
the  apex  of  the  wooden  arch  which  rose  above  the 
neck  of  our  middle  horse. 

The  grain  closed  in  upon  us.  We  plucked  some 
ears  as  we  passed,  and  found  them  ripe  and  well 
filled.  The  plain  seemed  as  trackless  as  a  forest,  and 
our  postboy  suspected,  from  time  to  time,  that  he  had 
lost  his  way  among  the  narrow  roads.  A  few  peas- 
ant men  whom  we  encountered  at  close  quarters 
took  off  their  hats,  but  without  servility,  and  we 
greeted  them  with  the  customary  good  wishes  for  a 
plentiful  harvest,  "  Bog  v  p6mozh"  (God  help),  or 
with  a  bow.  The  peasant  women  whom  we  met 
rarely  took  other  notice  of  us  than  to  stare,  and  still 
more  rarely  did  they  salute  first.  They  gazed  with 
instinctive  distrust,  as  women  of  higher  rank  are  wont 
to  do  at  a  stranger  of  their  own  sex. 

Although  the  grain  was  planted  in  what  seemed 
to  be  a  single  vast  field,  belonging  to  one  estate,  it 
was  in  reality  the  property  of  many  different  peas- 
ants, as  well  as  of  some  proprietors.  Each  peasant 
had  marked  his  plot  with  a  cipher  furrow  when  he 
plowed,  and  the  outlines  had  been  preserved  by  the 
growing  grain.  The  rich  black  soil  of  the  fallow 
land,  and  strips  of  turi  separating  sections,  relieved 
the  monotony  of  this  waving  sea  of  gold. 

The  heat  was  intense.     In  our  prone  position,  we 


A  JOURNEY  ON   THE   VOLGA.  253 

found  it  extremely  fatiguing  to  hold  umbrellas.  We 
had  recourse,  therefore,  to  the  device  practiced  by 
the  mountaineers  of  the  Caucasus,  who,  in  common 
with  the  Spaniards,  believe  that  what  will  keep  out 
cold  will  also  keep  out  heat.  We  donned  our  heavy 
wadded  pelisses.  The  experiment  was  a  success.  We 
arrived  cool  and  tranquil,  in  the  fierce  heat,  at  the 
estate  of  our  friends,  and  were  greeted  with  fiery  re- 
proaches for  not  having  allowed  them  to  send  one  of 
their  fifteen  or  twenty  carriages  for  us.  But  we  did 
not  repent,  since  our  conduct  had  secured  for  us  that 
novel  ride  and  a  touch  of  our  coveted  "  experience," 
in  spite  of  the  strain  of  our  thirty  hours'  vigil  and 
the  jolts  of  the  springless  vehicle. 

Then  we  discovered  the  exact  extent  of  our  yam- 
tscliik's  trick.  He  had  let  us  off  on  fairly  easy  terms, 
getting  not  quite  half  more  than  his  due.  By  the 
regular  route,  we  might  really  have  had  three  relays 
and  made  better  time,  had  we  been  permitted.  By 
the  short  cut  which  our  wily  friend  had  selected,  but 
one  change  was  possible.  This  left  the  price  of  two 
changes  to  be  credited  to  his  financial  ability  (in  ad- 
dition to  the  tea-money  of  gratitude,  which  came  in 
at  the  end,  all  the  same),  and  the  price  of  the  one 
which  he  would  not  make.  And,  as  I  was  so  thought- 
less as  not  to  hire  him  to  carry  away  those  pounds 
of  "  relay  "  copper,  I  continued  to  be  burdened  with 
it  until  I  contrived  to  expend  it  on  peasant  manu- 
factures. The  postboy  bore  the  reputation  of  being 
a  very  honest  fellow,  I  learned,  —  something  after 
the  pattern  of  the  charming  cabby  who  drove  us  to 
Count  Tolst6y's  estate. 

The  village,  like  most  Russian  villages,  was  sit- 
uated on  a  small  river,  in  a  valley.  It  consisted  of 


254  A   JOURNEY   ON   THE    VOLGA. 

two  streets  :  one  running  parallel  with  the  river,  the 
other  at  right  angles  to  it,  on  the  opposite  bank. 
The  connecting  bridge  bad  several  large  holes  in  it, 
on  the  day  of  our  arrival,  which  were  mended,  a  few 
days  later,  with  layers  of  straw  and  manure  mixed 
with  earth.  We  continued,  during  the  whole  period 
of  our  stay,  to  cross  the  bridge,  instead  of  going 
round  it,  as  we  had  been  advised  to  do  with  Russian 
bridges,  by  Russians,  in  the  certainty  that,  if  we 
came  near  drowning  through- its  fault,  it  would  surely 
furnish  us  with  an  abundance  of  straws  to  catch  at. 

In  one  corner  of  the  settlement,  a  petty  bourgeois, 
—  there  is  no  other  word  to  define  him,  —  the  son 
of  a  former  serf,  and  himself  born  a  serf,  had  made 
a  mill-pond  and  erected  cloth-mills.  His  u  European  " 
clothes  (long  trousers,  sack  coat,  Derby  hat)  suited 
him  as  ill  as  his  wife's  gaudy  silk  gown,  and  Sunday 
bonnet  in  place  of  the  kerchief  usual  with  the  lower 
classes,  suited  her  face  and  bearing.  He  was  a  quiet, 
unassuming  man,  but  he  was  making  over  for  him- 
self a  handsome  house,  formerly  the  residence  of  a 
noble.  Probably  the  money  wherewith  he  had  set 
up  in  business  had  been  wrung  out  of  his  fellow- 
peasants  in  the  profession  of  a  kulak,  or  "  fist,"  as 
the  people  expressively  term  peasant  usurers. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  river  stood  the  church, 
white-walled,  green-roofed,  with  golden  cross,  like  the 
average  country  church,  with  some  weather  stains, 
and  here  and  there  a  paling  missing  from  the  fence. 
Near  at  hand  was  the  new  schoolhouse,  with  accom- 
modations for  the  master,  recently  erected  by  our 
host.  Beyond  this  began  the  inclosure  surrounding 
the  manor  house,  and  including  the  cottages  of  the 
coachmen  and  the  steward  with  their  hemp  and  gar- 


A   JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA.  255 

den  plots,  the  stables  and  carriage  houses,  the  rick- 
yard  with  its  steam  threshing  machine  and  driers, 
and  a  vast  abandoned  garden,  as  well  as  the  gardens 
in  use.  The  large  brick  mansion,  with  projecting 
wings,  had  its  drawing-rooms  at  the  back,  where  a 
spacious  veranda  opened  upon  a  flower-bordered  lawn, 
terminating  in  shady  acacia  walks,  and  a  grove  which 
screened  from  sight  the  peasant  cottages  on  the  oppo- 
site bank  of  the  river.  A  hedge  concealed  the  vege- 
table garden,  where  the  village  urchins  were  in  the 
habit  of  pilfering  their  beloved  cucumbers  with  per- 
fect impunity,  since  a  wholesome  spanking,  even 
though  administered  by  the  Elder  of  the  Commune, 
might  result  in  the  spanker's  exile  to  Siberia.  An- 
other instance  of  the  manner  in  which  the  peasants 
are  protected  by  the  law,  in  their  wrongs  as  well  as 
their  rights,  may  be  illustrated  by  the  case  of  a  load 
of  hay  belonging  to  the  owner  of  the  estate,  which, 
entering  the  village  in  goodly  proportions,  is  reduced 
to  a  few  petty  armfuls  by  the  time  it  reaches  the 
barn,  because  of  the  handfuls  snatched  in  passing  by 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  place. 

No  sound  of  the  village  reached  us  in  our  retreat 
except  the  choral  songs  of  the  maidens  on  holiday 
evenings.  We  tempted  them  to  the  lawn  one  night, 
and  overcame  their  bash  fulness  by  money  for  nuts 
and  apples.  The  airs  which  they  sang  were  charm- 
ing, but  their  voices  were  undeniably  shrill  and  nasal, 
and  not  always  in  harmony.  We  found  them  as  re- 
luctant to  dance  as  had  been  the  peasants  at  Count 
Tolstoy's  village.  Here  we  established  ourselves  for 
the  harvest-tide. 


256  A  JOURNEY  ON  THE   VOLGA. 

II. 

Our  life  at  Prince  X.'s  estate  on  the  Volga  flowed 
on  in  a  semi-monotonous,  wholly  delightful  state  of 
lotus-eating  idleness,  though  it  assuredly  was  not  a 
case  which  came  under  the  witty  description  once 
launched  by  Turgeneff  broadside  at  his  countrymen  : 
"  The  Russian  country  proprietor  comes  to  revel  and 
simmer  in  his  ennui  like  a  mushroom  frying  in  sour 
cream."  Ennui  shunned  that  happy  valley.  We 
passed  the  hot  mornings  at  work  on  the  veranda  or 
in  the  well-filled  library,  varying  them  by  drives  to 
neighboring  estates  and  villages,  or  by  trips  to  the 
fields  to  watch  the  progress  of  the  harvest,  now  in 
full  swing.  Such  a  visit  we  paid  when  all  the  able- 
bodied  men  and  women  in  the  village  were  ranged 
across  the  landscape  in  interminable  lines,  armed 
with  their  reaping-hooks,  and  forming  a  brilliant 
picture  in  contrast  with  the  yellow  grain,  in  their 
blue  and  scarlet  raiment.  They  were  fulfilling  the 
contract  which  bound  them  to  three  days'  labor  for 
their  landlord,  in  return  for  the  pasturage  furnished 
by  him  for  their  cattle.  A  gay  kerchief  and  a  single 
clinging  garment,  generally  made  of  red  and  blue  in 
equal  portions,  constituted  the  costume  of  the  women. 
The  scanty  garments  were  faded  and  worn,  for  har- 
vesting is  terribly  hard  work,  and  they  cannot  use 
their  good  clothes,  as  at  the  haying,  which  is  mere 
sport  in  comparison.  Most  of  the  men  had  their 
heads  protected  only  by  their  long-  hair,  whose  sun- 
burnt outer  layer  fell  over  their  faces,  as  they  stooped 
and  reaped  the  grain  artistically  close  to  the  ground. 
Their  shirts  were  of  faded  red  cotton  ;  their  full 
trousers,  of  blue-an,d-red-striped  home-made  linen, 


A   JOURNEY  ON  THE   VOLGA.  257 

were  confined  by  a  strip  of  coarse  crash  swathed 
around  the  feet  and  legs  to  the  knee,  and  cross-gar- 
tered with  ropes.  The  feet  of  men  and  women  alike 
were  shod  with  low  shoes  of  plaited  linden  bark  over 
these  cloths. 

They  smiled  indulgently  at  our  attempts  to  reap 
and  make  girdles  for  the  sheaves,  —  the  sickles 
seemed  to  grow  dull  and  back-handed  at  our  touch, 
—  chatting  with  the  dignified  ease  which  character- 
izes the  Russian  peasant.  The  small  children  had 
been  left  behind  in  the  village,  in  charge  of  the 
grandams  and  the  women  unfit  for  field  labor.  Baby 
had  been  brought  to  the  scene  of  action,  and  installed 
in  luxury.  The  cradle,  a  cloth  distended  by  poles, 
like  that  of  Peter  the  Great,  which  is  preserved  in 
the  museum  of  the  Kremlin  at  Moscow,  was  sus- 
pended from  the  upturned  shafts  of  a  telyega  by  a 
stiff  spiral  spring  of  iron,  similar  to  the  springs  used 
on  bird-cages.  The  curtain  was  made  of  the  mother's 
spare  gown,  her  sarafdn.  Baby's  milk-bottle  con- 
sisted of  a  cow's  horn,  over  the  tip  of  which  a  cow's 
teat  was  fastened.  I  had  already  seen  these  dried 
teats  for  sale  in  pairs,  in  the  popular  markets,  but 
had  declined  to  place  implicit  faith  in  the  venders' 
solemn  statements  as  to  their  use. 

It  was  the  season  which  the  peasants  call  by  the 
expressive  title  stradd  (suffering).  Nearly  all  the 
summer  work  must  be  done  together,  and,  with  their 
primitive  appliances,  suffering  is  the  inevitable  re- 
sult. They  set  out  for  the  fields  before  sunrise,  and 
return  at  indefinite  hours,  but  never  early.  Some- 
times they  pass  the  night  in  the  fields,  under  the 
shelter  of  a  cart  or  of  the  grain  sheaves.  Men  and 
women  work  equally  and  unweariedly  ;  and  the 


258  A   JOURNEY   ON  THE    VOLGA. 

women  receive  less  pay  than  the  men  for  the  same 
work,  in  the  bad  old  fashion  which  is,  unhappily,  not 
yet  unknown  in  other  lands  and  ranks  of  life.  Eat- 
ing and  sleeping  join  the  number  of  the  lost  arts. 
The  poor,  brave  people  have  but  little  to  eat  in  any 
case,  —  not  enough  to  induce  thought  or  anxiety  to 
return  home.  Last  year's  store  has,  in  all  probabil- 
ity, been  nearly  exhausted.  They  must  wait  until 
the  grain  which  they  are  reaping  has  been  threshed 
and  ground  before  they  can  have  their  fill. 

One  holiday  they  observe,  partly  perforce,  partly 
from  choice,  though  it  is  not  one  of  the  great  festi- 
vals of  the  church  calendar,  —  St.  Ily&'s  Day.  St. 
Ilya  is  the  Christian  representative  of  the  old  Slavic 
god  of  Thunder,  Perun,  as  well  as  of  the  prophet 
Elijah.  On  or  near  his  name  day,  July  20  (Old 
Style),  he  never  fails  to  dash  wildly  athwart  the  sky 
in  his  chariot  of  fire  ;  in  other  words,  there  is  a 
terrific  thunderstorm.  Such  is  the  belief ;  such,  in 
my  experience,  is  the  fact,  also. 

Sundays  were  kept  so  far  as  the  field  work  per- 
mitted, and  the  church  was  thronged.  Even  our 
choir  of  ill-trained  village  youths  and  boys  could  not 
spoil  the  ever-exquisite  music.  There  were  usually 
two  or  three  women  who  expected  to  become  mothers 
before  the  week  was  out,  and  who  came  forward  to 
take  the  communion  for  the  last  time,  after  the  new- 
born babes  and  tiny  children  had  been  taken  up  by 
their  mothers  to  receive  it. 

Every  one  was  quiet,  clean,  reverent.  The  cloth- 
mill  girls  had  discovered  our  (happily)  obsolete 
magenta,  and  made  themselves  hideous  in  flounced 
petticoats  and  sacks  of  that  dreadful  hue.  The  sister 
of  our  LukeVya,  the  maid  who  had  been  assigned  to 


A  JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA.  259 

us,  thus  attired,  felt  distinctly  superior.  Lukdrya 
would  have  had  the  bad  taste  to  follow  her  example, 
had  she  been  permitted,  so  fast  are  evil  fashions  de- 
stroying the  beautiful  and  practical  national  cos- 
tumes. Little  did  Luke'rya  dream  that  she,  in  her 
peasant  garb,  with  her  thick  nose  and  rather  un- 
formed face,  was  a  hundred  times  prettier  than  An- 
nushka,  with  far  finer  features  and  '"  fashionable  " 
dress. 

Independent  and  "  fashionable  "  as  many  of  these 
villagers  were,  they  were  ready  enough  to  appeal  to 
their  former  owners  in  case  of  illness  or  need  ;  and 
they  were  always  welcomed.  Like  most  Russian 
women  who  spend  any  time  on  their  estates,  our 
hostess  knew  a  good  deal  about  medicine,  which  was 
necessitated  by  the  circumstance  that  the  district 
doctor  lived  eight  miles  away,  and  had  such  a  wide 
circuit  assigned  to  him  that  he  could  not  be  called 
in  except  for  serious  cases.  Many  of  the  remedies 
available  or  approved  by  the  peasants  were  primi- 
tive, not  to  say  heroic.  For  example,  one  man,  who 
had  exhausted  all  other  remedies  for  rheumatism, 
was  advised  to  go  to  the  forest,  thrust  the  ailing  foot 
and  leg  into  one  of  the  huge  ant-hills  which  abounded 
there,  and  allow  the  ants  to  sting  him  as  long  as  he 
could  bear  the  pain,  for  the  sake  of  the  formic  acid 
which  would  thus  be  injected  into  the  suffering  limb. 
I  confess  that  I  should  have  liked  to  be  present  at 
this  bit  of  —  surgery,  shall  I  call  it  ?  It  would  have 
been  an  opportunity  for  observing  the  Russian  peas- 
ant's stoicism  and  love  of  suffering  as  a  thing  good  in 
itself. 

The  peasants  came  on  other  errands,  also.  One 
morning  we  were  startled,  at  our  morning  coffee, 


260  A  JOURNEY   ON  THE    VOLGA. 

by  the  violent  irruption  into  the  dining-room,  on  his 
knees,  of  a  man  with  clasped  hands  uplifted,  rolling 
eyes,  and  hair  wildly  tossing,  as  he  knocked  his  head 
on  the  floor,  kissed  our  hostess's  gown,  and  uttered 
heart-rending  appeals  to  her,  to  Heaven,  and  to  all 
the  saints.  "  Barynya  !  dear  mistress  !  "  he  wailed. 
"  Forgive !  Yay  B6gu,  it  was  not  my  fault.  The 
Virgin  herself  knows  that  the  carpenter  forced  me  to 
it.  I  '11  never  do  it  again,  never.  God  is  my  witness ! 
Barynya  !  Ba-a-rynya  !  Ba-a-a-a-a-a-rijjnya  !  "  in  an 
indescribable,  subdued  howl.  He  was  one  of  her 
former  serfs,  the  keeper  of  the  dramshop;  and  the 
carpenter,  that  indispensable  functionary  on  an  iso- 
lated estate,  had  "  drunk  up  "  all  his  tools  (which 
did  not  belong  to  him,  but  to  our  hostess)  at  this 
man's  establishment.  The  sly  publican  did  not  offer 
to  return  them,  and  he  would  not  have  so  much  as 
condescended  to  promises  for  the  misty  future,  had 
he  not  been  aware  that  the  law  permits  the  closing 
of  pothouses  on  the  complaint  of  proprietors  in  just 
such  predicaments  as  this,  as  well  as  on  the  vote  of 
the  peasant  Commune.  Having  won  temporary 
respite  by  his  well-acted  anguish,  he  was  ready  to 
proceed  again  on  the  national  plan  of  av6s>  which 
may  be  vulgarly  rendered  into  English  by  "running 
for  luck." 

But  even  more  attractive  than  these  house  diver- 
sions and  the  village  were  the  other  external  features 
of  that  sweet  country  life.  The  mushroom  season 
was  beginning.  Equipped  with  baskets  of  ambitious 
size,  we  roamed  the  forests,  which  are  carpeted  in 
spring  with  lilies  of  the  valley,  and  all  summer  long, 
even  under  the  densest  shadow,  with  rich  grass.  We 
learned  the  home  and  habits  of  the  shrimp-pink 


A  JOURNEY   ON   THE    VOLGA.  261 

mushroom,  which  is  generally  eaten  salted  ;  of  the 
fat  white  and  birch  mushrooms,  with  their  chocolate 
caps,  to  be  eaten  fresh  ;  of  the  brown  and  green 
butter  mushroom,  most  delicious  of  all  to  our  taste, 
and  beloved  of  the  black  beetle,  whom  we  surprised 
lit  his  feast.  However,  the  mushrooms  were  only  an 
excuse  for  dreaming  away  the  afternoons  amid  the 
sweet  glints  of  the  fragrant  snowy  birch-trees  and 
the  green-gold  flickerings  of  the  pines,  in  the  "  black 
forest,"  which  is  a  forest  composed  of  evergreens  and 
deciduous  trees.  Now  and  then,  in  our  rambles,  we 
met  and  skirted  great  pits  dug  in  the  grassy  roads  to 
prevent  the  peasants  from  conveniently  perpetrat- 
ing thefts  of  wood.  Once  we  came  upon  a  party  of 
timber-thieves  (it  was  Sunday  afternoon),  who  espied 
us  in  time  to  rattle  off  in  their  rude  telyega  with 
their  prize,  a  great  tree,  at  a  rate  which  would  have 
reduced  ordinary  flesh  and  bones  to  a  jelly  ;  leaving 
us  to  stare  helplessly  at  the  freshly  hewn  stump. 
Tawny  hares  tripped  across  our  path,  or  gazed  at  us 
from  the  green  twilight  of  the  bushes,  as  we  lay  on 
the  turf  and  discussed  all  things  in  the  modern 
heaven  and  earth,  from  theosophy  and  Keely's  motor 
to  —  the  other  extreme. 

When  the  peasants  had  not  forestalled  us,  we  re- 
turned home  with  masses  of  mushrooms,  flower-like 
in  hue,  —  bronze,  pink,  snow-white,  green,  and  yel- 
low ;  and  Osip  cooked  them  delicately,  in  sour  cream, 
to  accompany  the  juicy  young  blackcock  and  other 
game  of  our  host's  shooting.  Osip  was  a  cordon  bleu, 
and  taxed  his  ingenuity  to  initiate  us  into  all  the 
mysteries  of  Russian  cooking,  which,  under  his  tui- 
tion, we  found  delicious.  The  only  national  dish 
which  we  never  really  learned  to  like  was  one  in 


262  A   JOURNEY   ON   THE    VOLGA. 

which  he  had  no  hand,  —  fresh  cucumbers  sliced 
lengthwise  and  spread  thick  with  new  honey,  which 
is  supposed  to  be  eaten  after  the  honey  has  been 
blessed,  with  the  fruits,  on  the  feast  of  the  Trans- 
figuration, but  which  in  practice  is  devoured  when- 
ever found,  as  the  village  priest  was  probably  aware. 
The  priest  was  himself  an  enthusiastic  keeper  of  bees 
in  odd,  primitive  hives.  It  was  really  amazing  to 
note  the  difference  between  the  good,  simple-man- 
nered old  man  in  his  humble  home,  where  he  received 
us  in  socks  and  a  faded  cassock,  and  nearly  suffo- 
cated us  with  vivaciously  repetitious  hospitality,  tea, 
and  preserves,  and  the  priest,  with  his  truly  majestic 
and  inspired  mien,  as  he  served  the  altar. 

Among  the  wild  creatures  in  our  host's  great 
forests  were  hares,  wolves,  moose,  and  bears.  The 
moose  had  retreated,  for  the  hot  weather,  to  the 
lakes  on  the  Crown  lands  adjacent,  to  escape  the  mad- 
dening attacks  of  the  gadflies.  Though  it  was  not 
the  hungry  height  of  the  season  with  the  wolves, 
there  was  always  an  exciting  possibility  of  encounter- 
ing a  stray  specimen  during  our  strolls,  and  we  found 
the  skull  and  bones  of  a  horse  which  they  had  killed 
the  past  winter.  From  early  autumn  these  gray  terrors 
roam  the  scene  of  our  mushroom-parties,  in  packs, 
and  kill  cattle  in  ill-protected  farmyards  and  children 
in  the  villages. 

It  was  too  early  for  hare-coursing  or  wolf-hunting, 
but  feathered  game  was  plentiful.  Great  was  the 
rivalry  in  "  bags  "  between  our  host  and  the  butler, 
a  jealously  keen  sportsman.  His  dog,  Modistka  (the 
little  milliner),  had  taught  the  clever  pointer  Milt<5n 
terribly  bad  tricks  of  hunting  alone,  and  was  even  in- 
itiating her  puppies  into  the  same  evil  ways.  When 


A   JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA.  263 

u  Monsieur,  Madame,  and  Bobe*  "  returned  triumph- 
antly from  the  forest  with  their  booty,  and  presented 
it  to  their  indignant  masters,  there  were  tine  scenes ! 
Bebe*  and  his  brothers  of  the  litter  were  so  exactly 
alike  in  every  detail  that  they  could  not  be  distin- 
guished one  from  the  other.  Hence  they  had  been 
dubbed  tchintivniki  (the  officials),  a  bit  of  innocent 
malice  which  every  Russian  can  appreciate. 

Of  the  existence  of  bears  we  had  one  convincing 
glimpse.  We  drove  off,  one  morning,  in  a  drizzling 
rain,  to  picnic  on  a  distant  estate  of  our  host,  in  a 
u  red  "  or  "  beautiful  "  forest  (the  two  adjectives  are 
synonymous  in  Russian),  which  is  composed  entirely 
of  pines.  During  our  long  tramp  through  a  superb 
growth  of  pines,  every  one  of  which  would  have  fur- 
nished a  mainmast  for  the  largest  old-fashioned  ship, 
a  bear  stepped  out  as  we  passed  through  a  narrow 
defile,  and  showed  an  inclination  to  join  our  party. 
The  armed  Russian  and  Mordvinian  foresters,  our 
guides  and  protectors,  were  in  the  vanguard  ;  and  as 
Misha  seemed  peaceably  disposed  we  relinquished 
all  designs  on  his  pelt,  consoling  ourselves  with  the 
reflection  that  it  would  not  be  good  at  this  season  of 
the  year.  We  camped  out  on  the  crest  of  the  hill, 
upon  a  huge  rug,  soft  and  thick,  the  work  of  serfs  in 
former  days,  representing  an  art  now  well-nigh  lost, 
and  feasted  on  nut-sweet  crayfish  from  the  Volga, 
new  potatoes  cooked  in  our  gypsy  kettle,  curds,  sour 
black  bread,  and  other  more  conventional  delicacies. 
The  rain  pattered  softly  on  us,  —  we  disdained  um- 
brellas, —  and  on  the  pine  needles,  rising  in  hillocks, 
here  and  there,  over  snowy  great  mushrooms,  of  a 
sort  to  be  salted  and  eaten  during  fasts.  The  wife  of 
the  priest,  who  is  condemned  to  so  much  fasting,  had 


264  A   JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA. 

a  wonderfully  keen  instinct  for  these  particular  mush- 
rooms, and  had  explained  to  us  all  their  merits,  which 
seemed  obscure  to  our  non-fasting  souls.  Our  Russian 
forester  regaled  us  with  forest  lore,  as  we  lay  on  our 
backs  to  look  at  the  tops  of  the  trees.  But,  to  my 
amazement,  he  had  never  heard  of  the  Leshi  and  the 
Vodyan6i,  the  wood-king  and  water-king  of  the  folk- 
tales. At  all  events,  he  had  never  seen  them,  nor 
heard  their  weird  frolics  in  the  boughs  and  waves. 
The  Mordvinian  contributed  to  the  entertainment 
by  telling  us  of  his  people's  costumes  and  habits, 
and  gave  us  a  lesson  in  his  language,  which  was  of 
the  Tatar-Finnish  variety.  Like  the  Tchuv&shi  and 
other  tribes  here  on  the  Volga,  the  Mordvinians  fur- 
nish pleasurable  excitement  and  bewilderment  to 
ethnographists  and  students  of  religions. 

These  simple  amusements  came  to  an  end  all  too 
soon,  despite  the  rain.  We  were  seized  with  a  fancy 
to  try  the  peasant  telySga  for  the  descent,  and  packed 
ourselves  in  with  the  rug  and  utensils.  Our  Mord- 
vinian, swarthy  and  gray-eyed,  walked  beside  us,  cast- 
ing glances  of  inquiry  at  us,  as  the  shaggy  little  horse 
plunged  along:,  to  ascertain  our  degrees  of  satisfaction 
with  the  experiment.  He  thrust  the  dripping  boughs 
from  our  faces  with  graceful,  natural  courtesy;  and 
when  we  alighted,  breathless  and  shaken  to  a  pulp, 
at  the  forester's  hut,  where  our  carriages  awaited  us, 
he  picked  up  the  hairpins  and  gave  them  to  us 
gravely,  one  by  one,  as  needed.  We  were  so  entirely 
content  with  our  telySga  experience  that  we  were  in 
no  undue  haste  to  repeat  it.  We  drove  home  In  the 
persistent  rain,  which  had  affected  neither  our  bodies 
nor  our  spirits,  bearing  a  trophy  of  unf ringed  gen- 
tians to  add  to  our  collection  of  goldenrod,  harebells, 


A   JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA.  265 

rose-colored  fringed  pinks,  and  other  familiar  wild 
flowers  which  reminded  us  of  the  western  hemi- 
sphere. 

The  days  were  too  brief  for  our  delights.  In  the 
afternoons  and  evenings,  we  took  breezy  gallops 
through  the  forests,  along  the  boundary  sward  of  the 
fields,  across  the  rich  black  soil  of  that  third  of  the 
land  which,  in  the  "  three-field  "  system  of  cultiva- 
tion, is  allowed  to  lie  fallow  after  it  has  borne  a  crop 
of  winter  grain,  rye,  and  one  of  summer  grain,  oats. 
We  watched  the  peasants  plowing  or  scattering  the 
seed-corn,  or  returning,  mounted  side-saddle  fashion 
on  their  horses,  with  their  primitive  plows  reversed. 
Only  such  rich  land  could  tolerate  these  Adam-like 
earth-scratchers.  As  we  met  the  cows  on  their  way 
home  from  pasture,  we  took  observations,  to  verify 
the  whimsical  barometer  of  the  peasants  ;  and  we 
found  that  if  a  light-hued  cow  headed  the  procession 
the  next  day  really  was  pretty  sure  to  be  fair,  while 
a  dark  cow  brought  foul  weather.  As  the  twilight 
deepened,  the  quail  piped  under  the  very  hoofs  of 
our  horses;  the  moon  rose  over  the  forest,  which 
would  soon  ring  with  the  howl  of  wolves ;  the  fresh 
breath  of  the  river  came  to  us  laden  with  peculiar 
scents,  through  which  penetrated  the  heavy  odor  of 
the  green-black  hemp. 

One  day  the  horses  were  ordered,  as  usual.  They 
did  not  appear.  The  cavalryman  who  had  been 
hired  expressly  to  train  them  had  not  only  neglected 
his  duty,  but  had  run  away,  without  warning,  to 
reap  his  own  little  field,  in  parts  unknown.  He  had 
carefully  observed  silence  as  to  its  existence,  when 
he  was  engaged.  This  was  item  number  one.  Item 
number  two  was  that  there  was  something  the  mat- 


266  A   JOURNEY  ON   THE   VOLGA. 

ter  with  all  the  horses,  except  Little  Boy,  Little  Bird, 
and  the  small  white  Bashkir  horse  from  the  steppes, 
whose  ear  had  been  slit  to  subdue  his  wildness.  The 
truth  was,  the  steward's  young  son  had  been  practic- 
ing high  jumping,  bareback,  in  a  circus  costume  of 
pink  calico  shirt -and  trousers,  topped  by  his  tow- 
colored  hair.  We  had  seen  this  surreptitious  per- 
formance, but  considered  it  best  to  betray  nothing, 
as  the  lad  had  done  so  well  in  the  village  school  that 
our  hosts  were  about  to  send  him  to  town  to  continue 
his  studies  at  their  expense. 

The  overseer,  another  soldier,  was  ordered  to  don 
his  uniform  and  accompany  us.  He  rebelled.  "  He 
had  just  got  his  hair  grown  to  the  square  state  which 
suited  his  peasant  garb,  and  it  would  not  go  with  his 
dragoon's  uniform  in  the  least.  Why,  he  would  look 
like  a  Kazak  !  Impossible,  utterly  !  "  He  was  sternly 
commanded  not  to  consider  his  hair ;  this  was  not  the 
city,  with  spectators.  When  he  finally  appeared,  in 
full  array,  we  saw  that  he  had  applied  the  shears  to 
his  locks,  in  a  hasty  effort  to  compromise  between  war 
and  peace  without  losing  the  cut.  The  effect  was  pe- 
culiar ;  it  would  strike  his  commanding  officer  dumb 
with  mirth  and  horror.  He  blushed  in  a  deprecating 
manner  whenever  we  glanced  at  him. 

There  was  a  bath-house  beside  the  river.  But  a 
greater  luxury  was  the  hot  bath,  presided  over  by  old 
Alexandra.  Alexandra,  born  a  serf  on  the  estate, 
was  now  like  a  humble  member  of  the  family,  the 
relations  not  having  changed,  perceptibly,  since  the 
emancipation,  to  the  old  woman's  satisfaction.  She 
believed  firmly  in  the  Domovdi  (the  house  sprite), 
and  told  wonderful  tales  of  her  experiences  with  him. 
Skepticism  on  that  point  did  not  please  her.  When 


A   JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA.  2G7 

the  horses  were  brought  round  with  matted  manes,  a 
sign  of  tin  affectionate  visit  from  the  Domovtii^  which 
must  not  be  removed,  under  penalty  of  his  displeas- 
ure, it  was  useless  to  tell  Alexandra  that  a  weasel 
had  been  caught  in  the  act,  and  that  her  sprite  was 
no  other.  She  clung  to  her  belief  in  her  dreaded 
friend. 

The  bath  was  a  small  log  house,  situated  a  short 
distance  from  the  manor.  It  was  divided  into  ante- 
room, dressing-room,  and  the  bath  proper.  When  we 
were  ready,  Alexandra,  a  famous  bath- woman,  took 
boiling  water  from  the  tank  in  the  corner  oven,  which 
had  been  heating  for  hours,  made  a  strong  lather, 
and  scrubbed  us  soundly  with  a  wad  of  linden  bast 
shredded  into  fibres.  Her  wad  was  of  the  choicest 
sort ;  not  that  which  is  sold  in  the  popular  markets, 
but  that  which  is  procured  by  stripping  into  rather 
coarse  filaments  the  strands  of  an  old  mat-sack,  such 
as  is  used  for  everything  in  Russia,  from  wrappers 
for  sheet  iron  to  bags  for  carrying  a  pound  of  cher- 
ries. After  a  final  douche  with  boiling  water,  we 
mounted  the  high  shelf,  with  its  wooden  pillow,  and 
the  artistic  part  of  the  operation  began.  As  we  lay 
there  in  the  suffocating  steam,  Alexandra  whipped 
us  thoroughly  with  a  small  besom  of  birch  twigs, 
rendered  pliable  and  secure  of  their  tender  leaves  by 
a  preliminary  plunge  in  boiling  water.  When  we 
gasped  for  breath,  she  interpreted  it  as  a  symptom  of 
speechless  delight,  and  flew  to  the  oven  and  dashed  a 
bucket  of  cold  water  on  the  red-hot  stones  placed 
there  for  the  purpose.  The  steam  poured  forth  in 
intolerable  clouds  ;  but  we  submitted,  powerless  to 
protest.  Alexandra,  with  all  her  clothes  on,  seemed 
not  to  feel  the  heat.  She  administered  a  merciless 


268  A   JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA. 

yet  gentle  massage  to  every  limb  with  her  birch 
rods,  —  what  would  it  have  been  like  if  she  had 
used  nettles,  the  peasants'  delight  ?  —  and  rescued  us 
from  utter  collapse  just  in  time  by  a  douche  of  ice- 
cold  water.  We  huddled  on  all  the  warm  clothing 
\ve  owned,  were  driven  home,  plied  with  boiling  tea, 
and  put  to  bed  for  two  hours.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  we  felt  made  over,  physically,  and  ready  to 
beg  for  another  birching.  But  we  were  warned  not 
to  expose  ourselves  to  cold  for  at  least  twenty -four 
hours,  although  we  had  often  seen  peasants,  fresh 
from  their  bath,  birch  besom  in  hand,  in  the  wintry 
streets  of  the  two  capitals. 

We  visited  the  peasants  in  their  cottages,  and  found 
them  very  reluctant  to  sell  anything  except  towel 
crash.  All  other  linen  which  they  wove  they  needed 
for  themselves,  and  it  looked  as  even  and  strong  as 
iron.  Here  in  the  south  the  rope-and-moss-plugged 
log  house  stood  flat  on  the  ground,  and  was  thatched 
with  straw,  which  was  secured  by  a  ladder-like  arrange- 
ment of  poles  along  the  gable  ends.  Three  tiny 
windows,  with  tinier  panes,  relieved  the  street  front  of 
the  house.  The  entrance  was  on  the  side,  from  the 
small  farmyard,  littered  with  farming  implements, 
chickens,  and  manure,  and  inclosed  with  the  usual 
fence  of  wattled  branches.  From  the  small  ante-room 
designed  to  keep  out  the  winter  ^cold,  the  store-room 
opened  at  the  rear,  and  the  living-room  at  the  front. 
The  left  hand  corner  of  the  living-room,  as  one  entered, 
was  occupied  by  the  oven,  made  of  stones  and  clay, 
and  whitewashed.  In  it  the  cooking  was  done  by 
placing  the  pots  among  the  glowing  wood  coals.  The 
bread  was  baked  when  the  coals  had  been  raked  out. 
Later  still,  when  desired,  the  owners  took  their  steam 


A   JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA.  269 

bath,  more  resembling  a  rousting,  inside  it,  and  the 
old  people  kept  their  aged  bones  warm  by  sleeping 
on  top  of  it,  close  to  the  low  ceiling.  Round  three 
sides  of  the  room  ran  a  broad  bench,  which  served 
for  furniture  and  beds.  In  the  right-hand  corner, 
opposite  the  door,  —  the  "•  great  corner  "  of  honor,  — 
was  the  case  of  images,  in  front  of  which  stood  the 
rough  table  whereon  meals  were  eaten.  This  was 
convenient,  since  the  images  were  saluted,  at  the  be- 
ginning and  end  of  meals,  with  the  sign  of  the  cross 
and  a  murmured  prayer.  The  case  contained  the  sa- 
cred picture  wherewith  the  young  couple  were  blessed 
by  their  parents  on  their  marriage,  and  any  others 
which  they  might  have  acquired,  with  possibly  a 
branch  of  their  Palm  Sunday  pussy  willows.  A  nar- 
row room,  monopolizing  one  of  the  windows,  opened 
from  the  living-room,  beyond  the  oven,  and  served  as 
pantry  and  kitchen.  A  wooden  trough,  like  a  chop- 
ping-tray,  was  the  washtub.  The  ironing  or  man- 
gling apparatus  consisted  of  a  rolling-pin,  round  which 
the  article  of  clothing  was  wrapped,  and  a  curved  pad- 
dle of  hard  wood,  its  under-surface  carved  in  pretty 
geometrical  designs,  with  which  it  was  smoothed. 
This  paddle  served  also  to  beat  the  clothes  upon  the 
stones,  when  the  washing  was  done  in  the  river,  in 
warm  weather.  A  few  wooden  bowls  and  spoons  and 
earthen  pots,  including  the  variety  which  keeps  rnilk 
cool  without  either  ice  or  running  water,  completed 
the  household  utensils.  Add  a  loom  for  weaving 
crash,  the  blue  linen  for  the  men's  trousers  and  the 
women's  scant  sarafans,  and  the  white  for  their 
aprons  and  chemises,  and  the  cloth  for  coats,  and  the 
furnishing  was  done. 

The   village    granaries,    with   wattled   walls   and 


270  A   JOURNEY   ON   THE    VOLGA. 

thatched  roofs,  are  placed  apart,  to  lessen  the  danger 
from  fire,  near  the  large  gates  which  give  admission 
to  the  village,  through  the  wattled  fence  encircling  it. 
These  gates,  closed  at  night,  are  guarded  by  peasants 
who  are  unfitted,  through  age  or  infirmities,  for  field 
labor.  «QThey  employ  themselves,  in  their  tiny  wat- 
tled lean-tos,  in  plaiting  the  low  shoes  of  linden  bark, 
used  by  both  men  and  women,  in  making  carts,  or 
in  some  other  simple  occupation.  An  axe  —  a  whole 
armory  of  tools  to  the  Kussian  peasant  —  and  an 
iron  bolt  are  their  sole  implements. 

We  were  cut  off  from  intercourse  with  one  of  the 
neighboring  estates  by  the  appearance  there  of  the 
Siberian  cattle  plague,  and  were  told  that,  should  it 
spread,  arrivals  from  that  quarter  would  be  admitted 
to  the  village  only  after  passing  through  the  disin- 
fecting fumes  of  dung  fires  burning  at  the  gate. 

Incendiaries  and  horse-thieves  are  the  scourges  of 
village  life  in  Russia.  Such  men  can  be  banished  to 
Siberia,  by  a  vote  of  the  Commune  of  peasant  house- 
holders. But  as  the  Commune  must  bear  the  expense, 
and  people  are  afraid  that  the  evil-doer  will  revenge 
himself  by  setting  the  village  on  fire,  if  lie  discovers 
their  plan,  this  privilege  is  exercised  with  comparative 
rarity.  The  man  who  steals  the  peasant's  horse  con- 
demns him  to  starva-tion  and  ruin.  Such  a  man  there 
had  been  in  our  friends'  village,  and  for  long  years  they 
had  borne  with  him  patiently.  He  was  crafty  and 
lind  "  influence  "  in  some  mysterious  fashion,  which 
made  him  a  dangerous  customer  to  deal  with.  But 
at,  last  he  was  sent  off.  Now,  during  our  visit,  the 
village  was  trembling  over  a  rumor  that  he  was  on 
his  way  back  to  wreak  vengeance  on  his  former  neigh- 
bors. I  presume  they  were  obliged  to  have  him  ban- 


A   JOURNEY  ON  THE   VOLGA.  271 

ished  again,  by  administrative  order  from  the  Minis- 
ter of  the  Interior,  —  the  only  remedy  when  one  of 
this  class  of  exiles  has  served  out  his  term,  —  before 
they  could  sleep  tranquilly. 

When  seen  in  his  village  home,  it  is  impossible  not 
to  admire  the  hard-working,  intelligent,  patient,  gen- 
tle, and  sympathetic  muzhik,  in  spite  of  all  his  faults. 
We  made  acquaintance  with  some  of  his  democratic 
manners  during  a  truly  unique  picnic,  arranged  by 
our  charming  hosts  expressly  to  convince  us  that  the 
famous  sterlet  merited  its  reputation.  We  had  tried 
it  in  first-class  hotels  and  at  their  own  table,  as  well 
as  at  other  private  tables,  and  we  maintained  that  it 
was  merely  a  sweet,  fine-grained,  insipid  fish. 

"  Wait  until  we  show  you  zhirytikha  [sterlet  grilled 
in  its  own  fat]  and  ukhd  [soup]  as  prepared  by  the 
fishermen  of  the  Volga.  The  Petersburg  and  Moscow 
people  cannot  even  tell  you  the  meaning  of  the  word 
4  zhiry 6khaJ  "  was  the  reply.  "  As  for  the  famous 
*  amber '  soup,  you  have  seen  that  even  Osip's  efforts 
do  not  deserve  the  epithet." 

Accordingly,  we  assembled  one  morning  at  seven 
o'clock,  to  the  sound  of  the  hunting-horn,  to  set  out 
for  a  point  on  the  Volga  twelve  miles  distant.  We 
found  Milt6n,  the  Milliner,  and  the  whole  litter  of 
officials  in  possession  of  the  carriage,  and  the  coach- 
man's dignity  relaxed  into  a  grin  at  their  antics, 
evoked  by  a  suspicion  that  we  were  going  hunting. 
Our  vehicle,  on  this  occasion,  as  on  all  our  expeditions 
to  field  and  forest,  was  a  stoutly  built,  springless  car- 
riage, called  a  linSika,  or  little  line,  which  is  better 
adapted  than  any  other  to  country  roads,  and  is  much 
used.  In  Kazan,  by  some  curious  confusion  of  ideas, 
it  is  called  a  "  guitar."  Another  nickname  for  it  is 


272  A   JOURNEY  ON  THE   VOLGA. 

"  the  lieutenant's  coach,"  which  was  bestowed  upon 
it  by  the  Emperor  Nicholas.  The  Tzar  came  to 
visit  one  of  the  Volga  provinces,  and  found  a  lineika 
awaiting  him  at  the  landing,  for  the  reason  that 
nothing  more  elegant,  and  with  springs,  could  scale 
the  ascent  to  the  town,  over  the  rough  roads.  The 
landed  proprietors  of  that  government  were  noted  foi" 
their  dislike  for  the  service  of  the  state,  which  led 
them  to  shirk  it,  regardless  of  the  dignity  and  titles 
to  be  thus  acquired.  They  were  in  the  habit  of  re- 
tiring to  their  beloved  country  homes  when  they  had 
attained  the  lowest  permissible  rung  of  that  wonder- 
ful Jacob's  ladder  leading  to  the  heaven  of  official- 
dom, established  by  Peter  the  Great,  and  dubbed 
the  Table  of  Ranks.  This  grade  was  lieutenant  in 
the  army  or  navy,  and  the  corresponding  counselor 
in  the  civil  service.  The  story  runs  that  Nicholas 
stretched  himself  out  at  full  length  on  it  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  gave  it  its  name.  Naturally,  such  men 
accepted  the  Emperor's  jest  as  a  compliment,  and 
perpetuated  its  memory. 

This  style  of  carriage,  which  I  have  already  de- 
scribed in  my  account  of  our  visit  to  Count  Tolst6y, 
is  a  development  of  the  Russian  racing-gig,  which  is 
also  used  for  rough  driving  in  the  country,  by  landed 
proprietors.  In  the  latter  case  it  is  merely  a  short 
board,  bare  or  upholstered,  on  which  the  occupant 
sits  astride,  with  his  feet  resting  on  the  forward  axle. 
Old  engravings  represent  this  uncomfortable  model 
as  the  public  carriage  of  St.  Petersburg  at  the  close 
of  the  last  century. 

Our  tr6'ika  of  horses  was  caparisoned  in  blue  and 
red  leather,  lavishly  decorated  with  large  metal 
plaques  and  with  chains  which  musically  replaced 


A   JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA.  273 

portions  of  the  leather  straps.  Over  the  IK  ck  of 
tin4  middle  horse,  who  trotted,  rose  an  ornamented 
arch  of  wood.  The  side  horses,  loosely  attached  by 
leather  thongs,  galloped  with  much  freedom  and 
grace,  their  heads  bent  downward  and  outward,  so 
that  we  could  watch  their  beautiful  eyes  and  crimson 
nostrils.  Our  coachman's  long  armydk  of  dark  blue 
cloth,  confined  by  a  gay  girdle,  was  topped  by  a  close 
turban  hat  of  black  felt,  stuck  all  the  way  round 
with  a  row"  of  eyes  from  a  peacock's  tail.  He  ob- 
served all  the  correct  rules  of  Russian  driving,  dash- 
ing up  ascents  at  full  speed,  and  holding  his  arms 
outstretched  as  though  engaged  in  a  race,  which  our 
pace  suggested. 

Our  road  to  the  Volga  lay,  at  first,  through  a  vast 
grainfield,  dotted  with  peasants  at  the  harvest.  Miles 
of  sunflowers  followed.  They  provide  oil  for  the 
poorer  classes  to  use  in  cooking  during  the  numer- 
ous fasts,  when  butter  is  forbidden,  and  seeds  to 
chew  in  place  of  the  unattainable  peanut.  Our  goal 
was  a  village  situated  beneath  lofty  chalk  hills,  daz- 
zling white  in  the  sun.  A  large  portion  of  the  vil- 
lage, which  had  been  burned  a  short  time  before, 
was  already  nearly  rebuilt,  thanks  to  the  ready-made 
houses  supplied  by  the  novel  wood-yards  of  Samara. 

The  butler  had  been  dispatched  on  the  previous 
evening,  with  a  wagon-load  of  provisions  and  com- 
forts, and  with  orders  to  make  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments for  a  boat  and  crew  with  fisherman  Pi6tr.  But, 
for  reasons  which  seemed  too  voluble  and  complicated 
for  adequate  expression,  Pi6tr  had  been  as  slow  of 
movement  as  my  bumptious  yamtschik  of  the  posting- 
station,  and  nothing  was  ready.  Pi6tr,  like  many 
elderly  peasants,  might  sit  for  the  portrait  of  his  apos- 


274  A  JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA. 

tolic  namesake.  But  he  approved  of  more  wine  *'  for 
the  stomach's  sake  "  than  any  apostle  ever  ventured 
to  recommend,  and  he  had  ingenious  methods  of  se- 
curing it.  For  example,  when  he  brought  crayfish 
to  the  house,  he  improved  the  opportunity.  The  fish- 
ermen scorn  these  dainties,  and  throw  them  oat  of 
the  nets.  The  fact  that  they  were  specially  ordered 
was  sufficient  hint  to  Piotr.  He  habitually  concealed 
them  in  the  steward's  hemp  patch  or  some  other 
handy  nook,  and  presented  himself  to  our  host  with 
the  announcement  that  he  would  produce  them  when 
he  was  paid  his  "  tea-money "  in  advance,  in  the 
shape  of  a  glass  of  vtidka.  The  swap  always  took 
place. 

In  spite  of  this  weakness,  Pi6tr  was  a  very  well- 
to-do  peasant.  We  inspected  his  establishment  and 
tasted  his  cream,  while  he  was  exhausting  his  stock 
of  language.  His  house  was  like  all  others  of  that 
region  in  plan,  and  everything  was  clean  and  orderly. 
It  had  an  air  about  it  as  if  no  one  ever  ate  or 
really  did  any  work  there,  which  was  decidedly  de- 
ceptive, and  his  living-room  contained  the  nearest 
approach  to  a  bed  and  bedding  which  we  had  seen : 
a  platform  supported  by  two  legs  and  the  wall,  and 
spread  with  a  small  piece  of  heavy  gray  and  black 
felt. 

~  Finding  that  Pi6tr's  eloquence  had  received  lengthy 
inspiration,  we  bore  him  off,  in  the  middle  of  his  per- 
oration, to  the  river,  where  we  took  possession  of  a 
boat  with  a  chronic  leak,  and  a  prow  the  exact  shape 
of  a  sterlet's  nose  reversed.  But  Pi6tr  swore  that  it 
was  the  stanchest  craft  between  Astrakhan  and  Ry- 
binsk, and  intrepidly  took  command,  steering  with  a 
long  paddle,  while  four  alert  young  peasants  plied 


A   JOURNEY  ON  THE   VOLGA.  275 

the  oars.  Pi6tr's  costume  consisted  of  a  cotton  shirt 
and  brief  trousers.  The  others  added  caps,  which, 
however,  they  wore  only  spasmodically. 

A  picnic  without  singing  was  not  to  be  thought  of, 
and  we  requested  the  men  to  favor  us  with  some 
folk-songs.  No  bashful  schoolgirls  could  have  re- 
sisted our  entreaties  with  more  tortuous  graces  than 
did  those  untutored  peasants?  One  of  them  was  such 
an  exact  blond  copy  of  a  pretty  brunette  American, 
whom  we  had  always  regarded  as  the  most  affected 
of  her  sex,  that  we  fairly  stared  him  out  of  counte- 
nance, in  our  amazement ;  and  we  made  mental  apol- 
ogies to  the  American  on  the  spot. 

"  Please  sing  '  Adown  dear  Mother  Volga,'  "  the 
conversation  ran. 

"  We  can't  sing."  "  We  don't  know  it."  "  You 
sing  it  and  show  us  how,  and  we  will  join  in." 

The  Affected  One  capped  the  climax  with  "It's 
not  in  the  mo-o-o-ode  now,  that  song ! "  with  a  deli- 
cate assumption  of  languor  which  made  his  comrades 
explode  in  suppressed  convulsions  of  mirth.  Finally 
they  supplied  the  key,  but  not  the  keynote. 

"  Give  us  some  v6dka,  and  we  may,  perhaps,  re- 
member something." 

Promises  of  vtidka  at  the  end  of  the  voyage,  when 
the  danger  was  over,  were  rejected  without  hesita- 
tion. We  reached  our  breakfast-ground  in  profound 
silence. 

Fortunately,  the  catch  of  sterlet  at  this  stand  had 
been  good.  The  fishermen  grilled  some  "  in  their 
own  fat,"  by  salting  them  and  spitting  them  alive 
on  peeled  willow  wands,  which  they  thrust  into  the 
ground,  in  a  slanting  position,  over  a  bed  of  glowing 
coals.  Anything  more  delicious  it  would  be  difficult 


276  A  JOURNEY  ON  THE   VOLGA. 

to  imagine ;  and  we  began  to  revise  our  opinion  of 
the  sterlet.  In  the  mean  time  our  boatmen  had  dis- 
covered some  small,  sour  ground  blackberries,  which 
they  gallantly  presented  to  us  in  their  caps.  Their 
feelings  were  so  deeply  wounded  by  our  attempts  to 
refuse  this  delicacy  that  we  accepted  and  actually 
ate  them,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  songless 
rogues  who  stood  over  us^ 

Our  own  fishing  with  a  line  resulted  in  nothing 
but  the  sport  and  sunburn.  We  bought  a  quantity 
of  sterlet,  lest  the  fishermen  at  the  camp  where  we 
had  planned  to  dine  should  have  been  unlucky,  placed 
them  in  a  net  such  as  is  used  in  towns  for  carrying 
fish  from  market,  and  trailed  them  in  the  water  be- 
hind our  boat. 

We  were  destined  to  experience  all  possible  aspects 
of  a  Volga  excursion,  that  day,  short  of  absolute  ship- 
wreck. As  we  floated  down  the  mighty  stream,  a 
violent  thunderstorm  broke  over  our  heads  with  the 
suddenness  characteristic  of  the  country.  We  were 
wet  to  the  skin  before  we  could  get  at  the  rain-cloaks 
on  which  we  were  sitting,  but  our  boatmen  remained 
as  dry  as  ever,  to  our  mystification.  In  the  middle 
of  the  storm,  our  unworthy  vessel  sprung  a  fresh  leak, 
the  water  poured  in,  and  we  were  forced  to  run 
aground  on  a  sand-bank  for  repairs.  These  were 
speedily  effected,  with  a  wad  of  paper,  by  Pi6tr,  who, 
with  a  towel  cast  about  his  head  and  shoulders,  looked 
more  like  an  apostle  than  ever. 

It  appeared  that  our  fishing-camp  had  moved  away ; 
but  we  found  it,  at  last,  several  miles  downstream, 
on  a  sand-spit  backed  with  willow  bushes.  It  was 
temporarily  deserted,  save  for  a  man  who  was  repair- 
ing a  net,  and  who  assured  us  that  his  comrades 


A  JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA.  277 

would  soon  return  from  their  trip,  for  supplies,  to  the 
small  town  which  we  could  discern  on  the  slope  of 
the  hillshore  opposite.  There  was  nothing  to  ex- 
plore on  our  sand-reef  except  the  fishermen's  prim- 
itive shelter,  composed  of  a  bit  of  sail-cloth  and  a  few 
boards,  furnished  with  simple  cooking  utensils,  and 
superintended  by  a  couple  of  frolicsome  kittens,  who 
took  an  unfeline  delight  in  wading  along  in  the  edge  of 
the  water.  So  we  spread  ourselves  out  to  dry  on  the 
clean  sand,  in  the  rays  of  the  now  glowing  sun,  and 
watched  the  merchandise,  chiefly  fish,  stacked  like 
cord  wood,  being  towed  up  from  Astrakhan  in  great 
barges. 

At  last  our  fisher  hosts  arrived,  and  greeted  us 
with  grave  courtesy  and  lack  of  surprise.  They  be- 
gan their  preparations  by  scouring  out  their  big  camp 
kettle  with  beach  sand,  and  building  a  fire  at  the 
water's  edge  to  facilitate  the  cleaning  of  the  fish. 
We  followed  their  proceedings  with  deep  interest, 
being  curious  to  learn  the  secret  of  the  genuine  "am- 
ber sterlet  soup."  This  was  what  we  discovered. 

The  fish  must  be  alive.  They  remain  so  after  the 
slight  preliminaries,  and  are  plunged  into  the  sim- 
mering water,  heads  and  all,  the  heads  and  the  parts 
adjacent  being  esteemed  a  delicacy.  No  other  fish 
are  necessary,  no  spices  or  ingredients  except  a  little 
salt,  the  cookery-books  to  the  contrary  notwjthstand- 
ing.  The  sterlet  is  expensive  in  regions  where  the 
cook-book  flourishes,  and  the  other  fish  are  merely  a 
cheat  of  town  economy.  The  scum  is  not  removed, 
—  this  is  the  capital  point,  —  but  stirred  in  as  fast 
as  it  rises.  If  the  ukhd  be  skimmed,  after  the  man- 
ner of  professional  cooks,  the  whole  flavor  and  rich- 
ness are  lost. 


278  A  JOURNEY   ON   THE   VOLGA. 

While  the  soup  was  boiling  and  more  sterlet  were 
being  grilled  in  their  own  fat,  as  a  second  course,  our 
men  pitched  our  tent  and  ran  up  our  flag,  and  the 
butler  set  the  table  on  our  big  rug.  It  was  lucky 
that  we  had  purchased  fish  at  our  breakfast-place, 
as  no  sterlet  had  been  caught  at  this  camp.  When 
the  soup  made  its  appearance,  we  comprehended 
the  epithet  "  amber"  and  its  fame.  Of  a  deep  gold, 
almost  orange  color,  with  the  rich  fat,  and  clear  as  a 
topaz,  it  was  utterly  unlike  anything  we  had  ever 
tasted.  We  understood  the  despair  of  Parisian  gour- 
mets and  cooks,  and  we  confirmed  the  verdict,  pro- 
visionally announced  at  breakfast,  that  the  sterlet 
is  the  king  of  all  fish.  As  it  is  indescribable,  I  may 
be  excused  for  not  attempting  to  do  justice  to  it  in 
words. 

While  we  feasted,  the  fishermen  cooked  themselves 
a  kettle  of  less  dainty  fish,  as  a  treat  from  us,  since 
the  fish  belong  to  the  contractor  who  farms  the 
ground,  not  to  the  men.  Their  meal  ended,  the  reg- 
ulation cross  and  prayer  executed,  they  amiably  con- 
sented to  anticipate  the  usual  hour  for  casting  their 
net,  in  order  that  we  might  see  the  operation.  The 
net,  two  hundred  and  fifty  fathoms  in  length,  was 
manoeuvred  down  the  long  beach  well  out  in  the 
Stream  by  one  man  in  a  boat,  and  by  five  men  on 
shore,  who  harnessed  themselves  to  a  long  cable  by 
halters  woven  from  the  soft  inner  bark  of  the  linden- 
tree.  We  grasped  the  rope  and  helped  them  pull. 
We  might  not  have  been  of  much  real  assistance,  but 
we  learned,  at  least,  how  heavy  is  this  toil,  repeated 
many  times  a  day,  even  when  the  pouch  reveals  so 
slender  a  catch  as  in  the  present  instance.  There  was 
nothing  very  valuable  in  it,  though  there  was  variety 


A   JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA.  279 

enough,  and  we  were  deceived,  for  a  moment,  by  sev- 
eral false  sterlet. 

The  small  samovar  which  we  had  brought  gave  us 
a  steaming  welcome,  on  our  return  to  camp.  Perched 
on  the  fishermen's  seatless  chair  and  stool,  and  on 
boxes,  we  drank  our  tea  and  began  our  preparations 
for  departure,  bestowing  a  reward  on  the  men,  who 
had  acted  their  parts  as  impromptu  hosts  to  perfec- 
tion. It  was  late  ;  but  our  men  burst  into  song,  when 
their  oars  dipped  in  the  waves,  as  spontaneously  as 
the  nightingales  which  people  these  shores  in  spring- 
time,—  inspired  probably  by  the  full  moon,  which 
they  melodiously  apostrophized  as  "  the  size  of  a 
twenty-kopek  bit."  They  sang  of  Ste*nka  Razin.  the 
bandit  chief,  who  kept  the  Volga  and  the  Caspian 
Sea  in  a  state  of  terror  during  the  reign  of  Peter  the 
Great's  father ;  of  his  "  poor  people,  good  youths,  fu- 
gitives, who  were  no  thieves  nor  brigands,  but  only 
Stenka  Razin's  workmen."  They  declared,  in  all  se- 
riousness, that  he  had  been  wont  to  navigate  upon  a 
felt  rug,  like  the  one  we  had  seen  in  Pi6tr"s  cottage ; 
and  they  disputed  over  the  exact  shade  of  meaning 
contained  in  the  words  which  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
using  when  he  summoned  a  rich  merchant  vessel  to 
surrender  as  his  prize.  Evidently,  Stenka  was  no 
semi-epic,  mythical  hero  to  them,  but  a  living  reality. 

"  Adown  dear  Mother  Volga, 
Adown  her  mighty  sweep," 

they  sang ;  and  suddenly  ran  the  boat  aground,  and 
fled  up  the  steep  slope  like  deer,  carrying  with  them 
their  tall  winter  boots  of  gray  felt,  which-  had  lain 
under  the  thwarts  all  day.  We  waited,  shivering  in 
the  keen  night  air,  and  wondering  whether  we  were 
deserted  on  this  lonely  reach  of  the  river  at  midnight. 


280  A   JOURNEY  ON   THE   VOLGA. 

If  the  apostle  Peter  understood  the  manoeuvre,  he  was 
loyal  and  kept  their  counsel.  He  gave  no  comfort  be- 
yond the  oracular  saytchds,  which  we  were  intended  to 
construe  as  meaning  that  they  would  be  back  in  no 
time. 

When  they  did  return,  after  a  long  absence,  their 
feet  were  as  bare  as  they  had  been  all  day.  Their 
boots  were  borne  tenderly  in  their  arms,  and  were 
distended  to  their  utmost  capacity  with  apples  !  In 
answer  to  our  remonstrances,  they  replied  cheerfully 
that  the  night  was  very  warm,  and  that  the  apples 
came  from  "  their  garden,  over  yonder  on  the  bank." 
On  farther  questioning,  their  village  being  miles  dis- 
tant, they  retorted,  with  a  laugh,  that  they  had  gar- 
dens all  along  the  river ;  and  they  offered  to  share 
their  plunder  with  us.  The  Affected  One  tossed  an 
apple  past  my  head,  with  the  cry,  "Catch,  Sasha  ! " 
to  our  host,  of  whose  familiar  name  he  had  taken 
note  during  the  day.  After  this  and  other  experi- 
ences, we  were  prepared  to  credit  an  anecdote  which 
had  been  related  to  us  of  a  peasant  in  that  neigh- 
borhood, to  illustrate  the  democratic  notions  of  his 
class  which  prevailed  even  during  the  days  of  serf- 
dom. One  of  the  provincial  assemblies,  to  which 
nobles  and  peasants  have  been  equally  eligible  for 
election  since  the  emancipation,  met  for  the  first  time, 
thus  newly  constituted.  One  of  the  nobles,  desir- 
ous of  making  the  peasants  feel  at  home,  rose  and 
began  :  — 

"  We  bid  you  welcome,  our  younger  brothers,  to 
this  "  — 

"  We  are  nobody's  inferiors  or  younger  brothers 
any  more,"  interrupted  a  peasant  member,  "and  we 
will  not  allow  you  to  call  us  so.'* 


A   JOURNEY  ON   THE   VOLGA.  281 

The  nobles  took  the  hint,  and  made  no  further 
unnecessary  advances.  Yes,  these  Volga  peasants 
certainly  possess  as  strong  a  sense  of  democratic 
equality  as  any  one  could  wish.  But  the  soft  in- 
genuousness of  their  manners  and  their  tact  disarm 
wrath  at  the  rare  little  liberties  which  they  take. 
Even  their  way  of  addressing  their  former  masters 
by  the  familiar  "thou"  betokens  respectful  affection, 
not  impertinence. 

Our  men  soon  wearied  of  pulling  against  the  pow- 
erful current,  dodging  the  steamers  and  the  tug-boats 
with  their  strings  of  barks  signaled  by  constellations 
of  colored  lanterns  high  in  air.  Perhaps  they  would 
have  borne  up  better  had  we  been  able  to  obtain 
some  Astrakhan  watermelons  from  the  steamer 
wharves,  which  we  besieged  in  turn  as  we  passed. 
They  proposed  to  tow  us.  On  Pi6tr's  assurance  that 
it  would  be  a  far  swifter  mode  of  locomotion,  and 
that  they  would  pay  no  more  visits  to  "  their  gar- 
dens," we  consented.  They  set  up  a  mast  through 
an  opening  in  one  of  the  thwarts,  passed  through  a 
hole  in  its  top  a  cord  the  size  of  a  cod-line,  fastened 
this  to  the  stern  of  the  boat,  and  leaped  ashore  with 
the  free  end.  Off  they  darted,  galloping  like  horses 
along  the  old  tow-path,  and  singing  vigorously. 
Pi6tr  remained  on  board  to  steer.  As  we  dashed 
rapidly  through  the  water,  we  gained  practical  know- 
ledge of  the  manner  in  which  every  pound  of  mer- 
chandise was  hauled  to  the  great  Fair  from  Astra- 
khan, fourteen  hundred  and  forty  miles,  before  the 
introduction  of  steamers,  except  in  the  comparatively 
rare  cases  where  oxen  were  made  to  wind  windlasses 
on  the  deck  of  a  bark.  It  would  have  required  hours 
of  hard  rowing  to  reach  our  goal ;  but  by  this  means 


282  A   JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA. 

we  were  soon  walking  across  the  yielding  sands  to 
Piotr's  cottage.  Our  cunning  rogues  of  boatmen 
took  advantage  of  our  scattered  march  to  obtain  from 
us  separately  such  installments  of  tea-money  as  must, 
in  the  aggregate,  have  rendered  them  hilarious  for 
days  to  come,  if  they  paid  themselves  for  their  min- 
strelsy in  the  coin  which  they  had  suggested  to  us 
before  breakfast. 

Piotr's  smiling  wife,  who  was  small,  like  most 
Russian  peasant  women,  had  baked  us  some  half-rye, 
half-wheat  bread,  to  our  order  ;  she  made  it  remark- 
ably well,  much  better  than  Osip.  We  secured  a 
more  lasting  memento  of  her  handiwork  in  the  form 
of  some  towel  ends,  which  she  had  spun,  woven, 
drawn,  and  worked  very  prettily.  Some  long-haired 
heads  were  thrust  over  the  oven-top  to  inspect  us,  but 
the  bodies  did  not  follow.  They  were  better  engaged 
in  enjoying  the  heat  left  from  the  baking. 

It  was  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  we  drove 
through  the  village  flock  of  sheep,  that  lay  asleep 
on  the  grassy  street.  With  hand  on  pistol,  to  guard 
against  a  possible  stray  wolf,  we  dashed  past  the 
shadowy  chalk  hills ;  past  the  nodding  sunflowers, 
whose  sleepy  eyes  were  still  turned  to  the  east ;  past 
the  grainfields,  transmuted  from  gold  to  silver  by 
the -moonlight ;  past  the  newly  plowed  land,  which 
looked  like  velvet  billows  in  its  depths  of  brown,  as 
the  moon  sank  lower  and  lower  beyond  in  a  mantle 
of  flame. 

By  this  time  practice  had  rendered  us  expert  in 
retaining  our  seats  in  the  low,  springless  lineika ; 
fortunately,  for  we  were  all  three  quarters  asleep  at 
intervals,  with  excess  of  fresh  air.  Even  when  the 
moon  had  gone  down,  and  a  space  of  darkness  inter- 


A  JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA.  283 

vened  before  the  day,  our  headlong  pace  was  not 
slackened  for  a  moment.  As  we  drove  up  to  the 
door,  in  the  pearl-pink  dawn,  Tulip,  the  huge  yellow 
mastiff  with  tawny  eyes,  the  guardian  of  the  court- 
yard, received  us  with  his  usual  ceremony,  through 
which  pierced  a  petition  for  a  caivss.  We  heeded 
him  not.  By  six  o'clock  \ve  were  fast  asleep.  Not 
even  a  packet  of  letters  from  home  could  keep  our 
eyes  open  after  that  four-and-twenty  hours'  picnic, 
which  had  been  un marred  by  a  single  fault,  but 
which  had  contained  all  the  "  experiences  "  and 
"  local  color  "  which  we  could  have  desired. 

How  can  I  present  a  picture  of  all  the  variations 
in  those  sweet,  busy-idle  days  ?  They  vanished  all 
too  swiftly.  But  now  the  rick-yard  was  heaped 
high  with  golden  sheaves  ;  the  carts  came  in  steady 
lines,  creaking  under  endless  loads,  from  those  fields 
which,  two  years  later,  lay  scorched  with  drought,  and 
over  which  famine  brooded.  The  peasant  girls  tossed 
the  grain,  with  forked  boughs,  to  the  threshing- 
machine,  tended  by  other  girls.  The  village  boys 
had  a  fine  frolic  dragging  the  straw  away  in  bundles 
laid  artfully  on  the  ends  of  two  long  poles  fastened 
shaft- wise  to  the  horse's  flanks.  We  had  seen  the 
harvesting,  the  plowing  with  the  primitive  wooden 
plow,  the  harrowing  with  equally  simple  contriv- 
ances, and  the  new  grain  was  beginning  to  clothe 
the  soil  with  a  delicate  veil  of  green.  It  was  time 
for  us  to  go.  During  our  whole  visit,  not  a  moment 
had  hung  heavy  on  our  hands,  here  in  the  depths  of 
the  country,  where  visitors  were  comparatively  few 
and  neighbors  distant,  such  had  been  the  unwearied 
attention  and  kindness  of  our  hosts. 

We  set  out  for  the  river   once  more.     This  time 


284  A   JOURNEY   ON   THE    VOLGA. 

we  had  a  landau,  and  a  cart  for  our  luggage.  As  we 
halted  to  drink  milk  in  the  Tchuvash  village,  the  in- 
habitants who  chanced  to  be  at  home  thronged  about 
our  carriage.  We  espied  several  women  arrayed  in 
their  native  costume,  which  has  been  almost  entirely 
abandoned  for  the  Russian  dress,  and  is  fast  becom- 
ing a  precious  rarity.  The  men  have  already  dis- 
carded their  dress  completely  for  the  Russian.  We 
sent  one  of  the  women  home  to  fetch  her  Sunday 
gown,  and  purchased  it  on  the  spot.  Such  a  wonder- 
ful piece  of  work !  The  woman  had  spun,  woven, 
and  sewed  it;  she  had  embroidered  it  in  beautiful 
Turanian,  not  Russian,  patterns,  with  silks,  —  dull 
red,  pale  green,  relieved  by  touches  of  dark  blue ; 
she  had  striped  it  lengthwise  with  bands  of  red  cot- 
ton and  embroidery,  and  crosswise  with  fancy  ribbons 
and  gay  calicoes ;  she  had  made  a  mosaic  of  the  back 
which  must  have  delighted  her  rear  neighbors  in 
church  ;  and  she  had  used  the  gown  with  such  care 
that,  although  it  had  never  been  washed,  it  was  not 
badly  soiled.  One  piece  for  the  body,  two  for  the 
head,  a  sham  pocket, — that  was  all.  The  footgear 
consisted  of  crash  bands,  bast  slippers,  rope  cross- 
garters.  The  artists  to  whom  I  showed  the  costume, 
later  on,  pronounced  it  Mi-ethnographical  prize. 

These  Tchuvashi  are  a  small,  gray-eyed,  olive- 
skinned  race,  with  cheek-bones  and  other  features 
like  the  Tatars,  but  less  well  preserved  than  with  the 
latter,  in  spite  of  their  always  marrying  among  them- 
selves. There  must  have  been  dilution  of  the  race 
at  some  time,  if  the  characteristics  were  as  strongly 
marked  as  with  the  Tatars,  in  their  original  ances- 
tors from  Asia.  Most  of  them  are  baptized  into 
the  Russian  faith,  and  their  villages  have  Russian 


A   JOURNEY  ON  THE    VOLGA.  285 

churches..  Nevertheless,  along  with  their  native 
tongue  they  are  believed  to  retain  many  of  tlieir 
ancient  pagan  customs  and  superstitions,  although 
baptism  is  in  no  sense  compulsory.  The  priest  in 
our  friends'  village,  who  had  lived  among  them,  had 
told  us  that  such  is  the  case.  But  he  had  also  de- 
clared that  they  possess  many  estimable  traits  of 
character,  and  that  their  family  life  is  deserving  of 
imitation  in  more  than  one  particular.  This  village 
of  theirs  looked  prosperous  and  clean.  The  men, 
being  brought  more  into  contact  with  outsiders  than 
the  women,  speak  Russian  better  than  the  latter, 
and  more  generally.  It  is  not  exactly  a  case  which 
proves  woman's  conservative  tendencies. 

On  reaching  the  river,  and  finding  that  no  steamer 
was  likely  to  arrive  for  several  hours,  we  put  up  at 
the  cottage  of  a  prosperous  peasant,  which  was  pat- 
ronized by  many  of  the  neighboring  nobles,  in  pref- 
erence to  the  wretched  inns  of  that  suburb  of  the 
wharves.  The  "  best  room  "  had  a  citified  air,  with 
its  white  curtains,  leaf  plants,  pretty  china  tea  ser- 
vice, and  photographs  of  the  family  on  the  wall. 
These  last  seemed  to  us  in  keeping  with  the  sew- 
ing-machine which  we  had  seen  a  peasant  woman 
operating  in  a  shop  of  the  Jittle  posting-town  inland. 
They  denoted  progress,  since  many  peasants  cherish 
religious  scruples  or  superstitions  about  having  their 
portraits  taken  in  any  form. 

The  athletic  sons,  clad  only  in  shirts  and  trousers 
of  sprigged  print,  with  fine  chestnut  hair,  which  com- 
pensated for  their  bare  feet,  vacated  the  room  for 
our  use.  They  and  the  house  were  as  clean  as  pos- 
sible. Outside,  near  the  entrance  door,  hung  the 
family  washstand,  a  double-spouted  teapot  of  bronze 


286  A   JOURNEY   ON   THE    VOLGA. 

suspended  by  chains.  But  it  was  plain  that  they  did 
not  pin  their  faith  wholly  to  it,  and  that  they  took 
the  weekly  steam  bath  which  is  customary  with  the 
peasants.  Not  everything  was  citified  in  the  matter 
of  sanitary  arrangements.  But  these  people  seemed 
to  thrive,  as  our  ancestors  all  did,  and  probably  re- 
garded us  as  over-particular. 

To  fill  in  the  interval  of  waiting,  we  made  an  ex- 
cursion to  the  heart  of  the  town,  and  visited  the  pretty 
public  garden  overhanging  the  river,  and  noteworthy 
for  its  superb  dahlias.  As  we  observed  the  types  of 
young  people  who  were  strolling  there,  we  recognized 
them,  with  slight  alterations  only,  which  the  lapse 
of  time  explained,  from  the  types  which  we  had  seen 
on  the  stage  in  Ostt  6vsky's  famous  play  "  The  Thun- 
derstorm." The  scene  of  that  play  is  laid  on  the 
banks  of  the  Volga,  in  just  such  a  garden  ;  why 
should  it  not  have  been  on  this  spot? 

All  peasant  izbui  are  so  bewilderingly  alike  that 
we  found  our  special  cottage  again  with  some  diffi- 
culty, by  the  light  of  the  young  moon.  By  this 
time  "  the  oldest  inhabitant"  had  hazarded  a  guess 
as  to  the  line  whose  steamer  would  arrive  first.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  gathered  up  our  small  luggage  and  our 
Tchuv&sh  costume,  and  fairly  rolled  down  the  steep, 
pathless  declivity  of  slippery  turf,  groping  our  way 
to  the  right  wharf.  How  the  luggage  cart  got  down 
was  a  puzzle.  Here  we  ordered  in  the  samovdr,  and 
feasted  until  far  into  the  night  on  the  country  dain- 
ties which  we  had  brought  with  us,  supplemented  by 
one  of  the  first  watermelons  from  Astrakhan,  which 
we  had  purchased  from  a  belated  dealer  in  the  de- 
serted town  market.  The  boat  was  late,  as  a  matter 
of  course  ;  but  we  understood  the  situation  now,  and 


A  JOURNEY  ON   THE    VOLGA.  287 

asked  no  questions.  When  it  arrived,  we  and  our 
charming  hosts,  whose  society  we  were  to  enjoy  for 
a  few  days  longer,  embarked  for  Samara,  to  visit  the 
famous  kumys  establishments  on  the  steppes. 

Russian  harvest-tide  was  over  for  us,  leaving  be- 
hind a  store  of  memories  as  golden  as  the  grain,  fitly 
framed  on  either  hand  by  Mother  Volga. 


XI. 

THE    RUSSIAN  KUMf  S   CURE. 

IT  is  not  many  years  since  every  pound  of  freight, 
every  human  being,  bound  to  Astrakhan  from  the 
interior  of  Russia  simply  floated  down  the  river  Volga 
with  the  current.  The  return  journey  was  made 
slowly  and  painfully,  in  tow  of  those  human  beasts 
of  burden,  the  burlaki.  The  traces  of  their  towpath 
along  the  shores  may  still  be  seen,  and  the  system 
itself  may  even  be  observed  at  times,  when  light 
barks  have  to  be  forced  upstream  for  short  distances. 

Then  some  enterprising  individual  set  up  a  line  of 
steamers,  in  the  face  of  the  usual  predictions  from 
the  wiseacres  that  he  would  ruin  himself  and  all  his 
kin.  The  undertaking  prov.ed  so  fabulously  success- 
ful and  profitable  that  a  wild  rush  of  competition 
ensued.  But  the  competition  seems  to  have  con- 
sisted chiefly  in  the  establishment  of  rival  lines  of 
steamers,  and  there  are  some  peculiarities  of  river 
travel  which  still  exist  in  consequence.  One  of  these 
curious  features  is  that  each  navigation  company  ap- 
pears to  have  adopted  a  certain  type  of  steamer  at 
the  outset,  and  not  to  have  improved  on  that  original 
idea  to  any  marked  degree.  There  are  some  honor- 
able exceptions,  it  is  true,  and  I  certainly  have  a  very 
definite  opinion  concerning  the  line  which  I  would 
patronize  on  a  second  trip.  Another  idea,  to  which 
they  have  clung  with  equal  obstinacy,  though  it  is  far 


THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE.  289 

from  milking  amends  for  the  other,  is  that  a  journey 
is  worth  a  certain  fixed  sum  per  verst,  utterly  re- 
gardless of  the  vast  difference  in  the  accommodations 
offered. 

Possibly  it  is  a  natural  consequence  of  having  been 
born  in  America,  and  of  having  heard  the  American 
boast  of  independence  and  progress  and  the  foreign 
boast  of  conservatism  contrasted  ever  since  I  learned 
my  alphabet,  not  to  exaggerate  unduly,  that  I  should 
take  particular  notice  of  all  illustrations  of  these 
conflicting  systems.  Generally  speaking,  I  advocate 
a  judicious  mixture  of  the  two,  in  varying  propor- 
tions to  suit  my  taste  on  each  special  occasion.  But 
there  are  times  when  I  distinctly  favor  the  broadest 
independence  and  progress.  These  Volga  steamers 
had  afforded  me  a  subject  for  meditations  on  this 
point,  at  a  distance,  even  before  I  was  obliged  to 
undergo  personal  experience  of  the  defects  of  con- 
servatism. Before  I  had  sailed  four  and  twenty  hours 
on  the  broad  bosom  of  Matushka  V61ga,  I  was  able 
to  pick  out  the  steamers  of  all  the  rival  lines  at  sight 
with  the  accuracy  of  a  veteran  river  pilot.  There 
was  no  great  cleverness  in  that,  I  hasten  to  add  ; 
anybody  but  a  blind  man  could  have  done  as  much ; 
but  that  only  makes  my  point  the  more  forcible. 
It  was  when  we  set  out  for  Samara  that  we  realized 
most  keenly  the  beauties  of  enterprise  in  this  direc- 
tion. 

We  had,  nominally,  a  wide  latitude  of  choice,  as 
all  the  lines  made  a  stop  at  our  landing.  But  when 
we  got  tired  of  waiting  for  the  steamer  of  our  pref- 
erence, —  the  boats  of  all  the  lines  being  long  over- 
due, as  usual,  owing  to  low  water  in  the  river, —  and 
took  the  first  which  presented  itself,  we  found  that 


290  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE. 

the  latitude  in  choice,  so  far  as  accommodations  were 
concerned,  was  even  greater  than  had  been  apparent 
at  first  sight. 

Fate  allotted  us  one  of  the  smaller  steamers,  the 
more  commodious  boats  having  probably  "  sat  down 
on  a  sand-bar,"  as  the  local  expression  goes.  The 
one  on  which  we  embarked  had  only  a  small  dining- 
room  and  saloon,  one  first-class  cabin  for  men  and 
one  for  women,  all  nearly  on  a  level  with  the  water, 
instead  of  high  aloft,  as  in  the  steamers  which  we 
had  hitherto  patronized,  and  devoid  of  deck-room  for 
promenading.  The  third-class  cabin  was  on  the  for- 
ward deck.  The  second-class  cabin  was  down  a  pair 
of  steep,  narrow  stairs,  whose  existence  we  did  not 
discover  when  we  went  on  board  at  midnight,  and 
which  did  not  tempt  us  to  investigation  even  when 
we  arose  the  next  morning.  Fortunately,  there  were 
no  candidates  except  ourselves  and  a  Russian  friend 
for  the  six  red  velvet  divans  ranged  round  the  walls 
of  the  tiny  "  ladies'  cabin,"  and  the  adjoining  toilet- 
room,  and  the  man  of  the  party  enjoyed  complete 
seclusion  in  the  men's  cabin.  In  the  large  boats, 
for  the  same  price,  we  should  have  had  separate 
staterooms,  each  accommodating  two  persons.  How- 
ever, everything  was  beautifully  clean,  as  usual  on 
Russian  steamers  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  and 
it  made  no  difference  for  one  night.  The  experi- 
ence was  merely  of  interest  as  a  warning. 

The  city  of  Samara,  as  it  presented  itself  to  our 
eyes  the  next  morning,  was  the  liveliest  place  on 
the  river  Volga  next  to  Nizhni  Novgorod.  While  it 
really  is  of  importance  commercially,  owing  to  its 
position  on  the  Volga  and  on  the  railway  from  cen- 
tral Russia,  as  a  depot  for  the  great  Siberian  trade 


THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE.  291 

through  Orenburg,  the  impression  of  alertness  which 
it  produces  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  it 
presents  itself  to  full  view  in  the  foreground,  instead 
of  lying  at  a  distance  from  the  wharves,  or  entirely 
concealed.  An  American,  who  is  accustomed  to  see 
railways  and  steamers  run  through  the  very  heart  of 
the  cities  which  they  serve,  never  gets  thoroughly 
inured  to  the  Russian  trick  of  taking  important  towns 
on  faith,  because  it  has  happened  to  be  convenient 
to  place  the  stations  out  of  sight  and  hearing,  some- 
times miles  out  of  the  city.  Another  striking  point 
about  Samara  is  the  abundance  of  red  brick  build- 
ings, which  is  very  unusual,  not  to  say  unprecedented, 
in  most  of  the  older  Russian  towns,  which  revel  in 
stucco  washed  with  white,  blue,  and  yellow. 

But  the  immediate  foreground  was  occupied  with 
something  more  attractive  than  this.  The  wharves, 
the  space  between  them,  and  all  the  ground  round 
about  were  fairly  heaped  with  fruit :  apples  in  be- 
wildering variety,  ranging  from  the  pi nk-and- white- 
skinned  "  golden  seeds  "  through  the  whole  gamut 
of  apple  hues;  round  striped  watermelons  and  oval 
cantaloupes  with  perfumed  orange-colored  flesh,  from 
Astrakhan  ;  plums  and  grapes.  After  wrestling  with 
these  fascinations  and  with  the  merry  izvtistchiki,  we 
set  out  on  a  little  voyage  of  discovery,  preparatory 
to  driving  out  to  the  famous  kumys  establishments, 
where  we  had  decided  to  stay  instead  of  in  the  town 
itself. 

Much  of  Samara  is  too  new  in  iis  architecture, 
and  too  closely  resembles  the  simple,  thrifty  builders' 
designs  of  a  mushroom  American  settlement,  to  re- 
quire special  description.  Although  it  is  said  to  have 
been  founded  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century, 


292  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE. 

to  protect  the  Russians  from  the  incursions  of  the 
Kalmucks,  Bashkirs,  and  Nogai  Tatars,  four  disas- 
trous conflagrations  withirr  the  last  forty-five  years 
have  made  way  for  "  improvements  "  and  entailed  the 
loss  of  characteristic  features,  while  its  rank  as  one 
of  the  chief  marts  for  the  great  Siberian  trade  has 
caused  a  rapid  increase  in  population,  which  now 
numbers  between  seventy-five  and  eighty  thousand. 

One  modern  feature  fully  compensates,  however, 
by  its  originality,  for  a  good  many  commonplace  an- 
tiquities. Near  the  wharves,  on  our  way  out  of  the 
town,  we  passed  a  lumber-yard,  which  dealt  wholly 
in  ready-made  log  houses.  There  stood  a  large  as- 
sortment of  cottages,  in  the  brilliant  yellow  of  the 
barked  logs,  of  all  sizes  and  at  all  prices,  from  fifteen 
to  one  hundred  dollars,  forming  a  small  suburb  of 
samples.  The  lumber  is  floated  down  the  Volga  and 
her  tributaries  from  the  great  forests  of  Uf&,  and 
made  up  in  Samara.  The  peasant  purchaser  dis- 
joints his  house,  floats  it  to  a  point  near  his  village, 
drags  it  piecemeal  to  its  proper  site,  sets  it  up,  roofs 
it,  builds  an  oven  and  a  chimney  of  stones,  clay,  and 
whitewash,  plugs  the  interstices  with  rope  or  moss, 
smears  them  with  clay  if  he  feels  inclined,  and  his 
house  is  ready  for  occupancy.  Although  such  houses 
are  cheap  and  warm,  it  would  be  a  great  improve- 
ment if  the  people  could  afford  to  build  with  brick, 
so  immense  is  the  annual  loss  by  fire  in  the  villages. 
Brick  buildings  are,  however,  far  beyond  the  means 
of  most  peasants,  let  them  have  the  best  will  in  the 
world,  and  the  ready-made  cottages  are  a  blessing, 
though  every  peasant  is  capable  of  constructing  one 
for  himself  on  very  brief  notice,  if  he  has  access  to 
a  forest.  But  forests  are  not  so  common  nowadays 


THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS  CURE.  293 

along  the  Volga,  and,  as  the  advertisements  say,  this 
novel  lumber-yard  "  meets  a  real  want."  When  the 
Samarcand  railway  was  opened,  a  number  of  these 
cottages,  in  the  one-room  size,  were  placed  on  plat- 
form cars,  and  to  each  guest  invited  to  the  ceremony 
was  assigned  one  of  these  unique  drawing-room-car 
coupe's. 

About  four  miles  from  the  town  proper,  on  the 
steppe,  lie  two  noted  knmys  establishments;  one  of 
them  being  the  first  resort  of  that  kind  ever  set  up, 
at  a  time  when  the  only  other  choice  for  invalids  who 
wished  to  take  the  cure  was  to  share  the  hardships, 
dirt,  bad  food,  and  carelessly  prepared  kumys  of  the 
tented  nomads  of  the  steppes.  The  grounds  of  the 
one  which  we  had  elected  to  patronize  extended  to 
the  very  brink  of  the  Volga.  In  accordance  with  the 
admonitions  of  the  specialist  physicians  to  avoid 
many-storied,  ill- ventilated  buildings  with  long  corri- 
dors, the  hotel  consists  of  numerous  wooden  structures, 
of  moderate  size,  chiefly  in  Moorish  style,  and  painted 
in  light  colors,  scattered  about  a  great  inclosure  which 
comprises  groves  of  pines  and  deciduous  trees,  —  "  red 
forest "  and  "  black  forest,"  as  Russians  would  ex- 
press it,  —  lawns,  arbors,  shady  walks,  flower-beds, 
and  other  things  pleasing  to  the  eye,  and  conducive 
to  comfort  and  very  mild  amusement.  One  of  the 
buildings  even  contains  a  hall,  where  dancing,  con- 
certs, and  theatricals  can  be  and  are  indulged  in,  in 
the  height  of  the  season,  although  such  violent  and 
crowded  affairs  as  balls  are,  in  theory,  discounte- 
nanced by  the  physicians.  All  these  points  we  took 
in  at  one  curious  glance,  as  we  were  being  conducted 
to  the  different  buildings  to  inspect  rooms.  I  am 
afraid  that  we  pretended  to  be  very  difficult  to  please, 


294  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE. 

in  order  to  gain  a  more  extensive  insight  into  the  ar- 
rangements. As  the  height  of  the  season  (which  is 
May  and  June)  was  past,  we  had  a  great  choice  of- 
i'ered  us,  and  I  suppose  that  this  made  a  difference  in 
the  price,  also.  It  certainly  was  not  unreasonable. 
We  selected  some  rooms  which  opened  on  a  small 
private  corridor.  The  furniture  consisted  of  the 
usual  narrow  iron  bedstead  (with  linen  and  pillows 
thrown  in  gratis,  for  a  wonder),  a  tiny  table  which 
disagreeably  recalled  American  ideas  as  to  that  arti- 
cle, an  apology  for  a  bureau,  two  armchairs,  and  no 
washstand.  The  chairs  were  in  their  primitive  stuff- 
ing-and-burlap  state,  loose  gray  linen  covers  being 
added  when  the  rooms  were  prepared  for  us.  Any 
one  who  has  ever  struggled  with  his  temper  and  the 
slack-fitting  shift  of  a  tufted  armchair  will  require 
no  explanation  as  to  what  took  place  between  me 
and  my  share  of  those  untufted  receptacles  before  I 
deposited  its  garment  under  my  bed,  and  announced 
that  burlap  and  tacks  were  luxurious  enough  for  me. 
That  one  item  contained  enough  irritation  and  excite- 
ment to  ruin  any  "  cure." 

The  washstand  problem  was  even  more  complicated. 
A  small,  tapering  brass  tank,  holding  about  two  quarts 
of  water,  with  a  faucet  which  dripped  into  a  diminu- 
tive cup  with  an  unstoppered  waste-pipe,  was  screwed 
to  the  wall  in  our  little  corridor.  We  asked  for  a 
washstand,  and  this  arrangement  was  introduced  to 
our  notice,  the  chambermaid  being  evidently  surprised 
at  the  ignorance  of  barbarians  who  had  never  seen  a 
washstand  before.  We  objected  that  a  mixed  party 
of  men  and  women  could  not  use  that  decently,  even 
if  two  quarts  of  water  were  sufficient  for  three  women 
and  a  man.  After  much  argument  and  insistence, 


THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE.  295 

we  obtained,  piecemeal:  item,  one  low  stool;  item, 
one  basin  ;  item,  one  pitcher.  There  were  no  fasten- 
ings on  the  doors,  except  a  hasp  and  staple  to  the 
door  of  the  corridor,  to  which,  after  due  entreaty,  we 
secured  an  oblong  padlock. 

The  next  morning,  the  chambermaid  came  to  the 
door  of  our  room  opening  on  the  private  corridor 
while  we  were  dressing,  and  demanded  the  basin  and 
pitcher.  "  Some  one  else  wants  them  !  "  she  shouted 
through  the  door.  We  had  discovered  her  to  be  a 
person  of  so  much  decision  of  character,  in  the  course 
of  our  dealings  with  her  on  the  preceding  day,  that 
we  were  too  wary  to  admit  her,  lest  she  should  simply 
capture  the  utensils  and  march  off  with  them.  As  I 
was  the  heaviest  of  the  party,  it  fell  to  my  lot  to 
brace  myself  against  the  unfastened  door  and  parley 
with  her.  Three  times  that  woman  returned  to  the 
attack ;  thrice  we  refused  to  surrender  our  hard-won 
trophies,  and  asked  her  pointedly,  "  What  do  you  do 
for  materials  when  the  house  is  full,  pray  ?  "  After- 
wards, while  we  were  drinking  our  coffee  on  the  de- 
lightful half-covered  veranda  below,  which  had  stuffed 
seats  running  round  the  walls,  and  a  flower-crowned 
circular  divan  in  the  centre,  a  lively  testimony  to  the 
dry  ness  of  the  atmosphere,  we  learned  that  the  per- 
son who  had  wanted  the  basin  and  pitcher  was  the 
man  of  our  party.  He  begged  us  not  to  inquire  into 
the  mysteries  of  his  toilet,  and  refused  to  help  us 
solve  the  riddle  of  the  guests'  cleanliness  when  the 
hotel  was  full.  I  assume,  on  reflection,  however,  that 
they  were  expected  to  take  Russian  or  plain  baths 
every  two  or  three  days,  to  rid  themselves  of  the 
odor  of  the  kumys,  which  exudes  copiously  through 
the  pores  of  the  skin  and  scents  the  garments.  On 


296  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE. 

other  days  a  "  lick  and  a  promise  "  were  supposed  to 
suffice,  so  that  their  journals  must  have  resembled 
that  of  the  man  who  wrote  :  "  Monday,  washed  myself. 
Tuesday,  washed  hands  and  face.  Wednesday, 
washed  hands  only."  That  explanation  is  not  wholly 
satisfactory,  either,  because  the  Russians  are  clean 
people. 

As  coffee  is  one  of  the  articles  of  food  which  are 
forbidden  to  kumys  patients,  though  they  may  drink 
tea  without  lemon  or  milk,  we  had  difficulty  in  get- 
ting it  at  all.  It  was  long  in  coming  ;  bad  and  high- 
priced  when  it  did  make  its  appearance.  As  we  were 
waiting,  an  invalid  lady  and  the  novice  nun  who  was 
in  attendance  upon  her  began  to  sing  in  a  room  near 
by.  They  had  no  instrument.  What  it  was  that 
they  sang,  I  do  not  know.  It  was  gentle  as  a  breath, 
melting  as  a  sigh,  soft  and  slow  like  a  conventional 
chant,  and  sweet  as  the  songs  of  the  Russian  Church 
or  of  the  angels.  There  are  not  many  strains  in  this 
world  upon  which  one  hangs  entranced,  in  breathless 
eagerness,  and  the  memory  of  which  haunts  one  ever 
after.  But  this  song  was  one  of  that  sort,  and  it  lin- 
gers in  my  memory  as  a  pure  delight ;  in  company 
with  certain  other  fragments  of  church  music  heard 
in  that  land,  as  among  the  most  beautiful  upon  earth. 

I  may  as  well  tell  at  once  the  whole  story  of  the 
food,  so  far  as  we  explored  its  intricate  mysteries. 
We  were  asked  if  we  wished  to  take  the  table  d'hote 
breakfast  in  the  establishment.  We  said  "  yes,"  and 
presented  ourselves  promptly.  We  were  served  with 
beefsteak,  in  small,  round,  thick  pieces. 

"  What  queer  beefsteak !  "  said  one  of  our  Russian 
friends.  "  Is  there  no  other  meat  ?  " 

"  No,  madam." 


THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE.  297 

We  all  looked  at  it  for  several  minutes.  We  said 
it  was  natural,  when  invalids  drank  from  three  to  five 
bottles  of  the  nourishing  kumys  a  day,  that  they 
should  not  require  much  extra  food,  and  that  the 
management  provided  what  variety  was  healthy  and 
advisable,  no  doubt ;  only  we  would  have  liked  a 
choice  ;  and  —  what  queer  steak  ! 

The  first  sniff,  the  first  glance  at  that  steak,  of 
peculiar  grain  and  dark  red  hue,  had  revealed  the 
truth  to  us.  But  we  saw  that  our  Russian  friends 
were  not  initiated,  and  we  knew  that  their  stomachs 
were  delicate.  We  exchanged  signals,  took  a  mouth- 
ful, declared  it  excellent,  and  ate  bravely  through 
oar  portions.  The  Russians  followed  our  example. 
Well  —  it  was  much  tenderer  and  better  than  the 
last  horseflesh  to  which  we  had  been  treated  surrep- 
titiously ;  but  I  do  not  crave  horseflesh  as  a  regular 
diet.  It  really  was  not  surprising  at  a  kumys  estab- 
lishment, where  the  horse  is  worshiped,  alive  or  dead, 
apparently,  in  Tatar  fashion. 

That  afternoon  we  made  it  convenient  to  take  our 
dinner  in  town,  on  the  veranda  of  a  restaurant  which 
overlooked  the  busy  Volga,  with  its  mobile  moods 
of  sunset  and  thunderstorm,  where  we  compensated 
ourselves  for  our  unsatisfactory  breakfast  by  a  char- 
acteristically Russian  dinner,  of  which  I  will  omit 
details,  except  as  regards  the  soup.  This  soup  was 
botvinya.  A  Russian  once  obligingly  furnished  me 
with  a  description  of  a  foreigner's  probable  views  on 
this  national  delicacy  :  "a  slimy  pool  with  a  rock  in 
the  middle,  and  creatures  floating  round  about." 
The  rock  is  a  lump  of  ice  (botvinya  being  a  cold 
soup)  in  the  tureen  of  strained  kvas  or  sour  cabbage. 
Kvas  is  the  sour,  fermented  liquor  maile  from  black 


298  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE. 

bread.  In  this  liquid  portion  of  the  soup,  which  is 
colored  with  strained  spinach,  floated  small  cubes  of 
fresh  cucumber  and  bits  of  the  green  tops  from 
young  onions.  The  solid  part  of  the  soup,  served  on 
a  platter,  so  that  each  person  might  mix  the  ingre- 
dients according  to  his  taste,  consisted  of  cold  boiled 
sterlet,  raw  ham,  more  cubes  of  cucumber,  more 
bits  of  green  onion  tops,  lettuce,  crayfish,  grated 
horseradish,  and  granulated  sugar.  The  first  time  I 
encountered  this  really  delectable  dish,  it  was  served 
with  salmon,  the  pale,  insipid  northern  salmon.  I 
supposed  that  the  lazy  waiter  had  brought  the  soup 
and  fish  courses  together,  to  save  himself  trouble, 
and  I  ate  them  separately,  while  I  meditated  a  re- 
buke to  the  waiter  and  a  strong  description  of  the 
weak  soup.  The  tables  were  turned  on  me,  however, 
when  Mikhe'i  appeared  and  grinned,  as  broadly  as 
his  not  overstrict  sense  of  propriety  permitted,  at  my 
unparalleled  ignorance,  while  he  gave  me  a  lesson  in 
the  composition  of  botvinya.  That  botvinya  was  not 
good,  but  this  edition  of  it  on  the  banks  of  the  Volga, 
with  sterlet,  was  delicious. 

We  shirked  our  meals  at  the  establishment  with 
great  regularity,  with  the  exception  of  morning 
coffee,  which  was  unavoidable,  but  we  did  justice  to 
its  kumys,  which  was  superb.  Theoretically,  the 
mares  should  have  had  the  advantage  of  better  pas- 
turage, at  a  greater  distance  from  town  ;  but,  as  they 
cannot  be  driven  far  to  milk  without  detriment,  that 
plan  involves  making  the  kumys  at  a  distance,  and 
transporting  it  to  the  "cure."  There  is  another 
famous  establishment,  situated  a  mile  beyond  ours, 
where  this  plan  is  pursued.  Ten  miles  away  the 
mares  pasture,  and  the  kumys  is  made  at  a  subsidi- 


THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE.  299 

ary  cure,  where  cheap  quarters  are  provided  for 
poorer  patients.  But,  either  on  account  of  the  trans- 
portation under  the  hot  sun,  or  because  the  profes- 
sional "  taster  "  is  lacking  in  delicacy  of  perception, 
we  found  the  kumys  at  this  rival  establishment 
coarse  in  both  flavor  and  smell,  in  comparison  with 
that  at  our  hostelry. 

Our  mares,  on  the  contrary,  were  kept  close  by, 
and  the  kumys  was  prepared  on  the  spot.  It  is  the 
first  article  of  faith  in  the  creed  of  the  kumys  expert 
that  no  one  can  prepare  this  milk  wine  properly 
except  Tatars.  Hence,  when  any  one  wishes  to 
drink  it  at  home,  a  Tatar  is  sent  for,  the  necessary 
niares  are  set  aside  for  him,  and  he  makes  what  is 
required.  But  the  second  article  of  faith  is  that 
kumys  is  much  better  when  made  in  large  quantities. 
The  third  is  that  a  kumys  specialist,  or  doctor,  is  as 
indispensable  for  the  regulation  of  the  cure  as  he  is 
at  mineral  springs.  The  fourth  article  in  the  creed 
is  that  mares  grazing  on  the  rich  plume-grass  of  the 
steppe  produce  milk  which  is  particularly  rich  in 
sugar,  very  poor  in  fat,  and  similar  to  woman's  milk 
in  its  proportion  of  albumen,  though  better  fur- 
nished: all  which  facts  combine  to  give  kumys 
whose  chemical  proportions  differ  greatly  from  those 
of  kumys  prepared  elsewhere.  Moreover,  on  private 
estates  it  is  not  always  possible  to  observe  all  the 
conditions  regarding  the  choice  and  care  of  the 
mares. 

At  our  establishment  there  were  several  Tatars  to 
milk  the  mares  and  make  the  kumys.  The  wife  of 
one  of  them,  a  Tatar  beauty,  was  the  professional 
taster,  who  issued  her  orders  like  an  autocrat  on  that 
delicate  point.  She  never  condescended  to  work, 


300  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE. 

and  it  was  our  opinion  that  she  ought  to  devote  her- 
self to  dress,  in  her  many  leisure  hours,  instead  of 
lounging  about  in  ugly  calico  sacks  and  petticoats, 
as  hideous  as  though  they  had  originated  in  a  back- 
woods farm  in  New  England.  She  explained,  how- 
ever, that  she  was  in  a  sort  of  mourning.  Her  hus- 
hand  was  absent,  and  she  could  not  make  herself 
beautiful  for  any  one  until  his  return,  which  she  was 
expecting  every  moment.  She  spent  most  of  her  time 
in  gazing,  from  a  balcony  on  the  cliff,  up  the  river, 
toward  the  bend  backed  by  beautiful  hills,  to  espy 
her  husband  on  the  steamer.  As  he  did  not  come, 
we  persuaded  her,  by  arguments  couched  in  silver 
speech,  to  adorn  herself  on  the  sly  for  us.  Then  she 
was  afraid  that  the  missing  treasure  might  make  his 
appearance  too  soon,  and  she  made  such  undue  haste 
that  she  faithlessly  omitted  the  finishing  touch,  — 
blacking  her  pretty  teeth.  I  gathered  from  her  re- 
marks that  something  particularly  awful  would 
result  should  she  be  caught  with  those  pearls  ob- 
scured in  the  presence  of  any  other  man  when  her 
husband  was  not  present ;  but  she  may  have  been 
using  a  little  diplomacy  to  soothe  us.  Though  she 
was  not  a  beauty  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  Occi- 
dent, she  certainly  was  when  dressed  in  her  national 
garb,  as  I  had  found  to  be  the  case  with  the  Russian 
peasant  girls.  Her  loose  sack,  of  a  medium  but  bril- 
liant blue  woolen  material,  fell  low  over  a  petticoat 
of  the  same  terminating  in  a  single  flounce.  Her 
long  black  hair  was  carefully  braided,  and  fell  from 
beneath  an  embroidered  cap  of  crimson  velvet  with 
a  rounded  end  which  hung  on  one  side  in  a  coquet- 
tish way.  Her  neck  was  completely  covered  with  a 
necklace  which  descended  to  her  waist  like  a  breast- 


THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE.  301 

plate,  and  consisted  of  gold  coins,  some  of  them 
very  ancient  and  valuable,  medals,  red  beads,  and  a 
variety  of  brilliant  objects  harmoniously  combined. 
Her  heavy  gold  bracelets  had  been  made  to  order  in 
Kazdn  after  a  pure  Tatar  model,  and  her  soft-soled 
boots  of  rose-pink  leather,  with  conventional  designs 
in  many-colored  moroccos,  sewed  together  with  rain- 
bow-hued  silks,  reached  nearly  to  her  knees.  Her 
complexion  was  fresh  and  not  very  sallow,  her  nose 
rather  less  like  a  button  than  is  usual ;  her  high 
cheek-bones  were  well  covered,  and  her  small  dark 
eyes  made  up  by  their  brilliancy  for  the  slight  upward 
slant  of  their  outer  corners. 

Tatar  girls,  who  made  no  pretensions  to  beauty  in 
dress  or  features,  did  the  milking,  and  were  aided  in 
that  and  the  other  real  work  connected  with  kumys- 
making  by  Tatar  men.  According  to  the  official 
programme,  the  mares  might  be  milked  six  or  eight 
times  a  day,  and  the  yield  was  from  a  half  to  a  whole 
bottle  apiece  each  time.  Milk  is  always  reckoned  by 
the  bottle  in  Russia.  I  presume  the  custom  arose 
from  the  habit  of  sending  the  muzhik  ("  Boots  ")  to 
the  dairy-shop  with  an  empty  wine-bottle  to  fetch 
the  milk  and  cream  for  "tea,"  which  sometimes 
means  coffee  in  the  morning.  The  mare's  milk  has  a 
sweetish,  almond-like  flavor,  and  is  very  thin  and 
bluish  in  hue. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  mares  are 
taken  from  the  colts  and  shut  up  in  a  long  shed  which 
is  not  especially  weather-proof.  In  fact,  there  is  not 
much  "  weather  "  except  wind  to  be  guarded  against 
on  the  steppe.  In  about  two  hours,  when  the  milk 
has  collected,  the  colts  follow  them  voluntarily,  and 
are  admitted  and  allowed  to  suck  for  a  few  seconds. 


302  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE. 

Halters  are  then  thrown  about  their  necks,  and  they 
are  led  forward  where  the  mothers  can  nose  them 
over  and  lick  them.  The  milkmaid's  second  assist- 
ant then  puts  a  halter  on  the  neck  of  a  mare  and 
holds  her,  or  ties  up  one  leg  if  she  be  restive.  In 
the  mean  time  the  foolish  creature  continues  to  let 
down  milk  for  her  foal.  The  milkmaid  kneels  on 
one  knee  and  holds  her  pail  on  the  other,  after  having 
washed  her  hands  carefully  and  wiped  off  the  teats 
with  a  clean,  damp  cloth.  If  the  mare  resists  at  first, 
the  milk  obtained  must  not  be  used  for  kumys,  as 
her  agitation  affects  the  milk  unfavorably.  Roan, 
gray,  and  chestnut  mares  are  preferred,  and  in  order 
to  obtain  the  best  milk  great  care  must  be  exercised 
in  the  choice  of  pasture  and  the  management  of  the 
horses,  as  well  as  in  all  the  minor  details  of  prepara- 
tion. 

The  milking-pails  are  of  tin  or  of  oak  wood,  and, 
like  the  oaken  kumys  churn,  have  been  boiled  in 
strong  lye  to  extract  the  acid,  and  well  dried  and 
aired.  In  addition  to  the  daily  washing  they  are 
well  smoked  with  rotten  birch  trunks,  in  order  to  de- 
stroy all  particles  of  kumys  which  may  cling  to  them. 

The  next  step  after  the  milk  is  obtained  is  to  fer- 
ment it.  The  ferment,  or  yeast,  is  obtained  by  col- 
lecting the  sediment  of  the  kumys  which  has  already 
germinated,  and  washing  it  off  thoroughly  with  milk 
or  water.  It  is  then  pressed  and  dried  in  the  sun, 
the  result  being  a  reddish-brown  mass  composed  of 
the  micro-organisms  contained  in  kumys  ferment, 
casein,  and  a  small  quantity  of  fat.  Twenty  grains 
of  this  yeast  are  ground  up  in  a  small  quantity  of 
freshly  drawn  milk  in  a  clean  porcelain  mortar,  and 
shaken  in  a  quart  bottle  with  one  pound  of  fresh 


THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE.  303 

milk,  —  all  mare's  milk,  naturally,  —  after  which  it 
is  lightly  corked  with  a  bit  of  wadding  and  set  away 
in  a  temperature  of  -f-  22°  to  -+-  26°  Rdaumur.  In 
about  twenty-four  hours  small  bubbles  begin  to  make 
their  appearance,  accompanied  by  the  sour  odor  of 
kumys.  The  bottle  is  then  shaken  from  time  to 
time,  and  the  air  admitted,  until  it  is  in  a  condition 
to  be  used  as  a  ferment  with  fresh  milk.  Sometimes 
this  ferment  fails,  in  which  case  an  artificial  ferment 
is  prepared. 

One  pint  of  ferment  is  allowed  to  every  five  pints 
of  fresh  milk  in  the  cask  or  churn,  and  the  whole  is 
beaten  with  the  dasher  for  about  an  hour,  when  it  is 
set  aside  in  a  temperature  of  -f-  18°  to  -f-  26°  Retu- 
rn ur.  When,  at  the  expiration  of  a  few  hours,  the 
milk  turns  sour  and  begins  to  ferment  vigorousl}7,  it  is 
beaten  again  several  times  for  about  fifteen  minutes, 
with  intervals,  with  a  dasher  which  terminates  in  a 
perforated  disk,  after  which  it  is  left  undisturbed  for 
several  hours  at  the  same  temperature  as  before,  until 
the  liquid  begins  to  exhale  an  odor  of  spirits  of  wine. 
The  delicate  offices  of  our  Tatar  beauty,  the  taster, 
come  in  at  this  point  to  determine  how  much  freshly 
drawn  and  cooled  milk  is  to  be  added  in  order  rightly 
to  temper  the  sour  taste.  After  standing  over  night 
it  is  ready  for  use,  and  is  put  up  in  seltzer  or  cham- 
pagne bottles,  and  kept  at  a  temperature  of  -\-  8°  to 
-f-  12°  Reaumur.  At  a  lower  temperature  vinegar 
fermentation  sets  in  and  spoils  the  kumys,  while  too 
high  a  temperature  brings  about  equally  disastrous 
results  of  another  sort.  Kumys  has  a  different  chem- 
ical composition  according  to  whether  it  has  stood 
only  a  few  hours  or  several  days,  and  consequently 
its  action  differs,  also. 


304  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE. 

The  weak  kumys  is  ready  for  use  at  the  expiration 
of  six  hours  after  fermentation  lias  been  excited  in 
the  mare's  milk,  and  must  be  put  into  the  strongest 
bottles.  The  medium  quality  is  obtained  after  from 
twelve  to  fourteen  hours  of  fermentation,  and,  if  well 
corked,  will  keep  two  or  three  days  in  a  cool  atmos- 
phere. The  third  and  strongest  quality  is  the  pro- 
duct of  diligent  daily  churning  during  twenty-four 
to  thirty-six  hours,  and  is  thinner  than  the  medium 
quality,  even  watery.  When  bottled,  it  soon  sepa- 
rates into  three  layers,  with  the  fatty  particles  on 
top,  the  whey  in  the  middle,  and  the  casein  at  the 
bottom.  Strong  kumys  can  be  kept  for  a  very  long 
time,  but  it  must  be  shaken  before  it  is  used.  It  is 
very  easy  for  a  person  unaccustomed  to  kumys  to 
become  intoxicated  on  this  strong  quality  of  milk 
wine. 

The  nourishing  effects  of  this  spirituous  beverage 
are  argued,  primarily,  from  the  example  of  the  Bash- 
kirs and  the  Kirghiz,  who  are  gaunt  and  worn  bv  the 
hunger  and  cold  of  winter,  but  who  blossom  into 
rounded  outlines  and  freshness  of  complexion  three  or 
four  days  after  the  spring  pasturage  for  their  mares 
begins.  Some  persons  argue  that  life  with  these 
Bashkirs  and  an  exclusive  diet  of  kumys  will  effect 
a  speedy  cure  of  their  ailments.  Hence  they  join 
one  of  the  nomad  hordes.  This  course,  however, 
not  only  deprives  them  of  medical  advice  and  the 
comforts  to  which  they  have  been  accustomed,  but 
often  gives  them  kumys  which  is  difficult  to  take  be- 
cause of  its  rank  taste  and  smell,  due  to  the  lack  of 
that  scrupulous  cleanliness  which  its  proper  prepara- 
tion demands. 

There  are  establishments  near  St.  Petersburg  and 


THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS  CURE.  305 

Moscow  where  kumys  may  be  obtained  by  those  who 
do  not  care  to  make  the  long  journey  to  the  steppe; 
but  the  quality  and  chemical  constituents  are  very 
different  from  those  of  the  steppe  kumys,  especially 
at  the  best  period,  May  and  June,  when  the  plume- 
grass  and  wild  strawberry  are  at  their  finest  devel- 
opment for  food,  and  before  the  excessive  heats  of 
midsummer  have  begun. 

As  I  have  said,  when  people  wish  to  make  the 
cure  on  their  own  estates,  the  indispensable  Tatar  is 
sent  for,  and  the  requisite  number  of  middle-aged 
mares,  of  which  no  work  is  required,  are  set  aside 
for  the  purpose.  But  from  all  I  have  heard,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  benefit  is  rarely  derived  from 
these  private  cures,  and  this  for  several  reasons.  Not 
only  is  the  kumys  said  to  be  inferior  when  prepared 
in  such  small  quantities,  but  no  specialist  or  any 
other  doctor  can  be  constantly  on  hand  to  regulate 
the  functional  disorders  which  this  diet  frequently 
occasions.  Moreover,  the  air  of  the  steppe  plays  an 
important  part  in  the  cure.  When  a  person  drinks 
from  five  to  fifteen  or  more  bottles  a  day,  and  some- 
times adds  the  proper  amount  of  fatty,  starchy,  and 
saccharine  elements,  some  other  means  than  the  stom- 
ach are  indispensable  for  disposing  of  the  refuse.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  in  the  hot,  dry,  even  temperature 
of  the  steppe,  where  patients  are  encouraged  to  re- 
main out-of-doors  all  day  and  drink  slowly,  they 
perspire  kumys.  When  the  system  becomes  thor- 
oughly saturated  with  this  food-drink,  catarrh  often 
makes  its  appearance,  but  disappears  at  the  close  of 
the  cure.  Colic,  constipation,  diarrhoaa,  nose-bleed, 
and  bleeding  from  the  lungs  are  also  present  at 
times,  as  well  as  sleeplessness,  toothache,  and  other 


306  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE. 

disorders.  The  effects  of  kumys  are  considered  of 
especial  value  in  cases  of  weak  lungs,  anaemia,  general 
debility  caused  by  any  wasting  illness,  ailments  of 
the  digestive  organs,  and  scurvy,  for  which  it  is  taken 
by  many  naval  officers. 

In  short,  although  it  is  not  a  cure  for  all  earthly 
ills,  it  is  of  value  in  many  which  proceed  from  im- 
perfect nutrition  producing  exhaustion  of  the  patient. 
There  are  some  conditions  of  the  lungs  in  which  it 
cannot  be  used,  as  well  as  in  organic  diseases  of  the 
brain  and  heart,  epilepsy,  certain  disorders  of  the 
liver,  and  when  gallstones  are  present.  It  is  drunk 
at  the  temperature  of  the  air  which  surrounds  the 
patient,  but  must  be  warmed  with  hot  water,  not  in 
the  sun,  and  sipped  slowly,  with  pauses,  not  drunk 
down  in  haste ;  and  generally  exercise  must  be  taken. 
Turn  where  we  would  in  those  kumys  establishments, 
we  encountered  a  patient  engaged  in  assiduous  prom- 
enading, with  a  bottle  of  kumys  suspended  from  his 
arm  and  a  glassful  in  his  hand. 

Coffee,  chocolate,  and  wine  are  some  of  the  luxu- 
ries which  must  be  renounced  during  a  kumys  cure, 
and  though  black  tea  (occasionally  with  lemon)  is 
allowed,  no  milk  or  cream  can  be  permitted  to  con- 
tend with  the  action  of  the  mare's  milk  unless  by 
express  permission  of  the  physician.  "  Cream  ku- 
mys," which  is  advertised  as  a  delicacy  in  America, 
is  a  contradiction  in  terms,  it  will  be  seen,  as  it  is 
made  of  cow's  milk,  and  cream  would  be  contrary  to 
the  nature  of  kumys,  even  if  the  mare's  milk  pro- 
duced anything  which  could  rightly  pass  as  such. 
Pish  and  fruits  are  also  forbidden,  with  the  exception 
of  klubniki,  which  accord  well  with  kumys.  Klub- 
nika  is  a  berry  similar  to  the  strawberry  in  appear- 


THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE.  307 

ance,  but  with  an  entirely  different  taste.  Patients 
\vho  violate  these  dietary  rules  are  said  to  suffer  for 
it,  —  in  which  case  there  must  have  been  a  good  deal 
of  agony  inside  the  tall  fence  of  our  establishment, 
judging  by  the  thriving  trade  in  fruits  driven  by  the 
old  women,  who  did  not  confine  themselves  to  the 
outside  of  the  gate,  as  the  rules  required,  but  slipped 
past  the  porter  and  guardians  to  the  house  itself. 

We  found  the  kumys  a  very  agreeable  beverage, 
and  could  readily  perceive  that  the  patients  might 
come  to  have  a  very  strong  taste  for  it.  We  even 
sympathized  with  the  thorough  -  going  patient  of 
whom  we  were  told  that  he  set  off  regularly  every 
morning  to  lose  himself  for  the  day  on  the  steppe, 
armed  with  an  umbrella  against  possible  cooling 
breezes,  and  with  a  basket  containing  sixteen  bottles 
of  kumys,  his  allowance  of  food  and  medicine  until 
sundown.  The  programme  consisted  of  a  walk  in 
the  sun,  a  drink,  a  walk,  a  drink,  with  umbrella  in- 
terludes, until  darkness  drove  him  home  to  bed  and 
to  his  base  of  supplies. 

We  did  not  remain  long  enough,  or  drink  enough 
kumys,  to  observe  any  particular  effects  on  our  own 
persons.  As  I  have  said,  we  ate  in  town,  chiefly, 
after  that  breakfast  of  kumys-mare  beefsteak  and 
potatoes  of  the  size  and  consistency  of  bullets. 
During  our  food  and  shopping  excursions  we  found 
that  Samara  was  a  decidedly  wide-awake  and  driving 
town,  though  it  seemed  to  possess  no  specialties  in 
buildings,  curiosities,  or  manufactures,  and  the  statue 
to  Alexander  II.,  which  now  adorns  one  of  its 
squares,  was  then  swathed  in  canvas  awaiting  its 
unveiling.  It  is  merely  a  sort  of  grand  junction, 
through  which  other  cities  and  provinces  sift  their 


308  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE. 

products.  In  kumys  alone  does  Samara  possess  a 
characteristic  unique  throughout  Russia.  Conse- 
quently, it  is  for  kumys  that  multitudes  of  Russians 
flock  thither  every  spring. 

The  soil  of  the  steppe,  on  which  grows  the  nutri- 
tious plume-grass  requisite  for  the  food  of  the  kumys 
mares,  is  very  fertile,  and  immense  crops  of  rye, 
wheat,  buckwheat,  oats,  and  so  forth  are  raised 
whenever  the  rainfall  is  not  too  meagre.  Unfortu- 
nately, thie  rainfall  is  frequently  insufficient,  and  the 
province  of  Samara  often  comes  to  the  attention  of 
Russia,  or  even  of  the  world,  as  during  the  dearth 
in  1891,  because  of  scarcity  of  food,  or  even  famine, 
which  is  no  novelty  in  the  government.  In  a  dis- 
trict where  the  average  of  rain  is  twenty  inches, 
there  is  not  much  margin  of  superfluity  which  can 
be  spared  without  peril.  Wheat  grows  here  better 
than  in  the  government  just  north  of  it,  and  many 
peasants  are  attracted  from  the  "  black-bread  gov- 
ernments" to  Samara  by  the  white  bread  which  is 
there  given  them  as  rations  when  they  hire  out  for 
the  harvest. 

But  such  a  singular  combination  of  conditions  pre- 
vails there,  as  elsewhere  in  Russia,  that  an  abundant 
harvest  is  often  more  disastrous  than  a  scanty  liar- 
vest.  The  price  of  grain  falls  so  low  that  the  cost 
of  gathering  it  is  greater  than  the  market  value,  and 
it  is  often  left  to  fall  unreaped  in  the  fields.  When 
the  price  falls  very  low,  complaints  arise  that  there 
is  no  place  to  send  it,  since,  when  the  ruble  stands 
high,  as  it  invariably  does  at  the  prospect  of  large 
crops,  the  demand  from  abroad  is  stopped.  The 
result  is  that  those  people  who  are  situated  near  a 
market  sell  as  much  grain  and  leave  as  little  at  home 


THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS  CURE.  309 

as  possible  in  order  to  meet  their  bills.  The  price 
rises ;  the  unreaped  surplus  of  the  districts  lying  far 
from  markets  cannot  fill  the  ensuing  demand.  The 
income  from  estates  falls,  and  the  discouraged  own- 
ers who  have  nothing  to  live  on  resolve  to  plant  a 
smaller  area  thereafter.  Estates  are  mortgaged  and 
sold  by  auction  ;  prices  are  very  low,  and  often  there 
are  no  buyers. 

The  immediate  result  of  an  over-abundant  harvest 
in  far-off  Samara  is  that  the  peasants  who  have 
come  hither  to  earn  a  little  money  at  reaping  return 
home  penniless,  or  worse,  to  their  suffering  families. 
Some  of  them  are  legitimate  seekers  after  work ; 
that  is  to  say,  they  have  no  grain  of  their  own  to 
attend  to,  or  they  reap  their  own  a  little  earlier  or  a 
little  later,  and  go  away  to  earn  the  ready  money  to 
meet  taxes  and  indispensable  expenditures  of  the 
household,  such  as  oil,  and  so  on.  "  Pri  khlySby  bez 
khlyeby  "  is  their  own  way  of  expressing  the  situa- 
tion, which  we  may  translate  freely  as  "  starvation 
in  the  midst  of  plenty."  Thus  the  extremes  of 
famine-harvest  and  the  harvest  which  is  an  embar- 
rassment of  riches  are  equally  disastrous  to  the  poor 
peasant. 

Samara  offers  a  curious  illustration  of  several  agri- 
cultural problems,  and  a  proof  of  some  peculiar  par- 
adoxes. The  peasants  of  the  neighboring  govern- 
ments, which  are  not  populated  to  a  particularly 
dense  degree,  —  twenty  male  inhabitants  to  a  square 
verst  (two  thirds  of  a  mile),  and  not  all  engaged  in 
agriculture,  —  have  long  been  accustomed  to  look 
upon  Samara  as  a  sort  of  promised  land.  They  still 
regard  it  in  that  light,  and  endeavor  to  emigrate 
thither,  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  grants  of  state  land, 


310  THE  RUSSIAN  KUMYS   CURE. 

and  certain  immunities  and  privileges  which  are  ac- 
corded to  colonists.  This  action  is  the  result  of  the 
paradox  that  overproduction  exists  hand  in  hand  with 
too  small  a  parcel  of  land  for  each  peasant ! 

Volumes  have  been  written,  and  more  volumes 
might  still  be  written,  on  this  subject.  But  I  must 
content  myself  here  with  saying  that  I  believe  there 
is  no  province  which  illustrates  so  thoroughly  all  the 
distressing  features  of  these  manifold  and  complicated 
problems  of  colonization,  of  permanent  settlements, 
with  the  old  evils  of  both  landlords  and  peasants 
cropping  up  afresh,  abundant  and  scanty  harvests 
equally  associated  with  famine,  and  all  the  troubles 
which  follow  in  their  train,  as  Samara.  Hence  it  is 
that  I  can  never  recall  the  kumys,  which  is  so  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  name  of  Samara,  without 
also  recalling  the  famine,  which  is,  alas,  almost  as 
intimately  bound  up  with  it. 


XII. 

MOSCOW  MEMORIES. 

ST.  PETERSBURG  is  handsome,  grand,  impressive. 
Moscow  is  beautiful,  poetic,  sympathetic,  and  per- 
vaded by  an  atmosphere  of  ancient  Russia,  which  is 
indescribable,  though  it  penetrates  to  the  marrow  of 
one's  bones  if  he  tarry  long  within  her  walls.  Em- 
peror Peter's  new  capital  will  not  bear  comparison, 
for  originalitj',  individuality,  and  picturesqueness 
with  Tzar  Peter's  Heart  of  Holy  Russia,  to  which 
the  heart  of  one  who  loves  her  must,  perforce,  often 
return  with  longing  in  after  days,  —  "  white-stoned 
golden-domed,  Holy  Mother  Moscow." 

But  a  volume  of  guide-book  details,  highly  colored 
impressionist  sketches,  and  dainty  miniature  painting 
combined  would  not  do  justice  to  Moscow.  There- 
fore, I  shall  confine  myself  to  a  few  random  reminis- 
cences which  may  serve  to  illustrate  habits  or  traits 
in  the  character  of  the  city  or  the  people. 

"  'Eography,"  says  Mrs.  Booby,  in  one  of  the 
famous  old  Russian  comedies  which  we  were  so  for- 
tunate as  to  witness  on  the  Moscow  stage  :  "  Ah ! 
good  heavens  !  And  what  are  cabmen  for,  then? 
That 's  their  business.  It 's  not  a  genteel  branch 
of  learning.  A  gentleman  merely  says :  4  Take  me 
to  such  or  such  a  place,'  and  the  cabman  drives  him 
wherever  he  pleases." 

Nowadays,  it  is  advisable  to  be  vulgar  and  know 


812  MOSCOW  MEMORIES. 

the  geography  of  Moscow,  if  one  is  really  enjoying 
it  independently.  It  is  a  trifle  less  complicated  than 
the  geography  of  the  Balkan  Principalities,  and, 
unlike  that  of  the  Balkan  Principalities,  it  has  its 
humorous  side,  which  affords  alleviation.  The  Mos- 
cow cabby  has  now,  as  in  the  time  of  Mrs.  Booby, 
the  reputation  of  being  a  very  hard  customer  to  deal 
with.  He  is  not  often  so  ingenuous,  even  in  appear- 
ance, as  the  man  who  drove  close  to  the  sidewalk 
and  entreated  our  custom  by  warbling,  sweetly : 
"  We  must  have  work  or  we  can't  have  bread."  He 
is  only  to  be  dreaded,  however,  if  one  be  genteelly 
ignorant,  after  Mrs.  Booby's  plan.  I  cannot  say 
that  I  ever  had  any  difficulty  in  finding  any  place 
I  wanted,  either  with  the  aid  (or  hindrance)  of  an 
izvtistchik,  or  on  foot,  in  Moscow  or  other  Russian 
towns.  But  for  this  and  other  similar  reasons  I 
acquired  a  nickname  among  the  natives,  —  molo- 
dyetz,  that  is  to  say,  a  dashing,  enterprising  young 
fellow,  the  feminine  form  of  the  word  being  non- 
existent. A  Russian  view  of  the  matter  is  amusing, 
however. 

"  I  never  saw  such  a  town  in  which  to  hunt  up 
any  one,"  said  a  St.  Petersburg  man  in  Moscow  to 
me.  "  They  give  you  an  address  :  4  Such  and  such 
a  street,  such  a  house.'  For  instance,  '  Green  Street, 
house  of  Mr.  Black.'  You  go.  First  you  get  hold 
of  the  street  in  general,  and  discover  that  the  special 
name  applies  only  to  one  block  or  so,  two  or  three 
versts  away  from  the  part  where  you  chance  to  have 
landed.  Moscow  is  even  more  a  city  of  magnificent 
distances,  you  know,  than  St.  Petersburg.  Next 
you  discover  that  there  is  no  '  house  of  Mr.  Black.' 
Mr.  Black  died,  respected  and  beloved,  God  be  with 


MOSCOW  MEMORIES.  313 

him  !  a  hundred  years  ago  or  less,  and  the  house 
has  changed  owners  three  times  since.  So  far,  it  is 
tolerably  plain  sailing.  Then  it  appears  that  the 
house  you  are  in  search  of  is  not  in  the  street  at  all, 
but  tucked  in  behind  it,  on  a  parallel  lane,  round 
several  corners  and  elbows."  (I  will  explain,  in 
parenthesis,  that  the  old  system  of  designating  a 
house  by  the  name  of  the  owner,  which  prevailed 
before  the  introduction  of  numbers,  still  survives 
extensively,  even  in  Petersburg.) 

"  The  next  time  you  set  out  on  a  search  expedi- 
tion," continued  my  informant,  after  a  cup  of  tea 
and  a  cigarette  to  subdue  his  emotions,  "  you  insist 
on  having  the  number  of  the  house.  Do  you  get  it  ? 
Oh  yes  !  and  with  a  safeguard  added,  '  Inquire  of  the 
laundress.'  [This  was  a  parody  on,  "  Inquire  of  the 
Swiss,"  or  "  of  the  yard-porter."]  You  start  off  in 
high  feather ;  number  and  guide  are  provided,  only  a 
fool  could  fail  to  find  it,  and  you  know  that  you  are 
a  person  who  is  considered  rather  above  the  average 
in  cleverness.  But  that  is  in  Petersburg,  and  I  may 
as  well  tell  you  at  on.ce  that  clever  Petersburgers  are 
fools  compared  to  the  Moscow  men,  in  a  good  many 
points,  such  as  driving  a  hard  bargain.  Well,  sup- 
pose that  the  house  you  want  is  No.  29.  You  find 
No.  27  or  No.  28,  and  begin  to  crow  over  your  clever- 
ness. But  the  next  house  on  one  side  is  No.  319, 
and  the  house  on  the  other  side  is  No.  15 ;  the  one 
opposite  is  No.  211,  or  No.  7,  or  something  idiotic 
like  that,  and  all  because  the  city  authorities  permit 
people  to  retain  the  old  district  number  of  the  house, 
to  affix  the  new  street  number,  or  to  post  up  both 
at  their  own  sweet  will !  As  you  cannot  find  the  laun- 
dress to  question,  under  the  circumstances,  you  in- 


314  MOSCOW  MEMORIES. 

terview  every  Swiss  [hall-porter],  yard-porter,  police- 
man, and  peasant  for  a  verst  round  about ;  and  all 
the  satisfaction  you  get  is,  4  In  whose  house?  That 
is  Mr.  Green's  and  this  is  Mr.  Bareboaster's,  and 
yonder  are  Count  Thingumbob's  and  Prince  What- 
youmaycall's.'  So  you  retreat  once  more,  baffled." 
Fortifying  himself  with  more  tea  and  cigarettes,  the 
victim  of  Moscow  went  on  :  — 

"  But  there  is  still  another  plan.  [A  groan.]  The 
favorite  way  to  give  an  address  is,  4  In  the  parish 
of  Saint  So-and-So.'  It  does  n't  pin  you  down  to 
any  special  house,  street,  or  number,  which  is,  of 
course,  a  decided  advantage  when  you  are  hunting 
for  a  needle  in  a  haystack.  And  the  Moscow  saints 
and  parishes  have  such  names !  "  Here  the  narra- 
tor's feelings  overcame  him,  and  when  I  asked  for 
some  of  the  parochial  titles  he  was  too  limp  to  reply. 

I  had  already  noticed  the  peculiar  designations  of 
many  churches,  and  had  begun  to  suspect  myself  of 
stupidity  or  my  cabman  and  other  informants  of  ma- 
licious jesting.  Now,  however,  I  investigated  the 
subject,  and  made  a  collection  of  specimens.  These 
extraordinary  names  are  all  derived  —  with  one  or 
two  exceptions  for  which  I  can  find  no  explanation 
—  from  the  peculiarities  of  the  soil  in  the  parish,  the 
former  use  to  which  the  site  of  the  church  was  put, 
or  the  avocations  of  the  inhabitants  of  its  neighbor- 
hood in  the  olden  times,  when  most  of  the  space  out- 
side of  the  Kremlin  and  China  Town  was  devoted  to 
the  purveyors  and  servants  of  the  Tzars  of  Muscovy. 

St.  Nicholas,  a  very  popular  saint,  heads  the  list, 
as  usual.  "St.  Nicholas  on  Chips"  occupies  the 
spot  where  a  woodyard  stood.  "St.  Nicholas  on 
the  Well,"  "St.  Nicholas  Fine  Chime,"  are  easily 


MOSCOW  MEMORIES.  315 

understood.  "  St.  Nicholas  White-Collar  "  is  in  the 
ancient  district  of  the  court  laundresses.  "  St. 
Nicholas  in  the  Bell-Ringers  "  is  comprehensible  ; 
but  "  St.  Nicholas  the  Blockhead  "  is  so  called  be- 
cause in  this  quarter  dwelt  the  imperial  hatmakers, 
who  prepared  "  blockheads  "  for  shaping  their  wares. 
44  St.  Nicholas  Louse's  Misery  "  is,  probably,  a  cor- 
ruption of  two  somewhat  similar  words  meaning 
Muddy  Hill.  "  St.  Nicholas  on  Chickens'  Legs " 
belonged  to  the  poulterers,  and  was  so  named  be- 
cause it  was  raised  from  the  ground  on  supports 
resembling  stilts.  44  St.  Nicholas  of  the  Interpret- 
ers "  is  in  the  quarter  where  the  Court  interpreters 
lived,  and  where  the  Tatar  mosque  now  stands. 
Then  we  have :  "  The  Life-Giving  Trinity  in  the 
Mud,"  "St.  John  the  Warrior"  and  "St.  John  the 
Theologian  in  the  Armory,"  44  The  Birth  of  Christ  on 
Broadswords,"  "  St.  George  the  Martyr  in  the  Old 
Jails,"  "  The  Nine  Holy  Martyrs  on  Cabbage-Stalks," 
on  the  site  of  a  former  market  garden,  and  the  inex- 
plicable 44  Church  of  the  Resurrection  on  the  Mar- 
mot," besides  many  others,  some  of  which,  I  was 
told,  bear  quite  unrepeatable  names,  probably  per- 
verted, like  the  last  and  like  "  St.  Nicholas  Louse's 
Misery,"  from  words  having  originally  some  slight 
resemblance  in  sound,  but  which  are  now  unrecog- 
nizable. 

Great  stress  is  laid,  in  hasty  books  of  travel,  on 
the  contrasts  presented  by  the  Moscow  streets,  the 
44  palace  of  a  prince  standing  by  the  side  of  the 
squalid  log  hut  of  a  peasant,"  and  so  forth.  That 
may,  perhaps,  have  been  true  of  the  Moscow  of 
twenty  or  thirty  years  ago.  In  very  few  quarters  is 
there  even  a  semblance  of  truth  in  that  description 


316  MOSCOW  MEMORIES. 

at  the  present  day.  The  clusters  of  Irish  hovels  in 
upper  New  York  among  the  towering  new  buildings 
are  much  more  picturesque  and  noticeable.  The 
most  characteristic  part  of  the  town,  as  to  domestic 
architecture,  the  part  to  which  the  old  statements  are 
most  applicable,  lies  between  the  two  lines  of  boule- 
vards, which  are,  in  themselves,  good  places  to  study 
some  Russian  tastes.  For  example,  a  line  of  open 
horse-cars  is  run  all  winter  on  the  outer  boulevard, 
and  appreciated.  Another  line  has  the  centre  of  its 
cars  inclosed,  and  uninclosed  seats  at  the  ends.  The 
latter  are  the  most  popular,  at  the  same  price,  and 
as  for  heating  a  street-car,  the  idea  could  never  be 
got  into  a  Russian  brain.  A  certain  section  of  the 
inner  boulevard,  which  forms  a  sort  of  slightly  ele- 
vated garden,  is  not  only  a  favorite  resort  in  summer, 
but  is  thronged  every  winter  afternoon  with  people 
promenading  or  sitting  under  the  snow-powdered 
trees  in  an  arctic  fairyland,  while  the  mercury  in 
the  thermometer  is  at  a  very  low  ebb  indeed.  It  is 
fashionable  in  Russia  to  grumble  at  the  cold,  but  un- 
fashionable to  convert  the  grumbling  into  action. 
On  the  contrary,  they  really  enjoy  sitting  for  five 
hours  at  a  stretch,  in  a  temperature  of  25°  below 
zero,  to  watch  the  fascinating  horse  races  on  the  ice. 
In  the  districts  between  the  boulevards,  one  can  get 
an  idea  of  the  town  as  it  used  to  be.  In  this  "  Earth 
Town  "  typical  streets  are  still  to  be  found,  but  the 
chances  are  greatly  against  a  traveler  finding  them. 
They  are  alleys  in  width  and  irregularity,  paved 
with  cobblestones  which  seem  to  have  been  selected 
for  their  angles,  and  with  intermittent  sidewalks  con- 
sisting of  narrow,  carelessly  joined  flagstones.  The 
front  steps  of  the  more  pretentious  houses  must  be 


MOSCOW  MEMORIES.  317 

skirted  or  mounted,  the  street  must  be  crossed  when 
the  family  carriage  stands  at  the  door,  like  the  most 
characteristic  streets  in  Nantucket.  Some  of  the 
doorplates  —  which  are  large  squares  of  tin  fastened 
over  the  porte  cochere,  or  on  the  gate  of  the  court- 
yard —  bear  titles.  Next  door,  perhaps,  stands  a 
log  house,  flush  with  the  sidewalk,  its  moss  calking 
plainly  visible  between  the  huge  ribs,  its  steeply 
sloping  roof  rising,  almost  within  reach,  above  a 
single  story ;  and  its  serpent-mouthed  eave-spouts 
ingeniously  arranged  to  pour  a  stream  of  water  over 
the  vulgar  pedestrian.  The  windows,  on  a  level 
with  the  eyes  of  the  passer-by,  are  draped  with  cheap 
lace  curtains.  The  broad  expanse  of  cotton  wadding 
between  the  double  windows  is  decorated,  in  mid- 
dle-class taste,  with  tufts  of  dyed  grasses,  colored 
paper,  and  other  execrable  ornaments.  Here,  as 
everywhere  else  in  Moscow,  one  can  never  get  out  of 
eye-shot  of  several  churches ;  white  with  brilliant  ex- 
ternal frescoes,  or  the  favorite  mixture  of  crushed 
strawberry  and  white,  all  with  green  roofs  and  sur- 
mounted with  domes  of  ever-varying  and  original 
forms  and  colors,  crowned  with  golden  crosses  of 
elaborate  and  beautiful  designs.  Ask  a  resident, 
whether  prince  or  peasant,  "  How  many  churches 
are  there  in  '  Holy  Moscow  town  '  ?  "  The  answer 
invariably  is,  "Who  knows?  A  forty  of  forties," 
which  is  the  old  equivalent,  in  the  Epic  Songs,  of  in- 
calculable numbers.  After  a  while  one  really  begins 
to  feel  that  sixteen  hundred  is  not  an  exaggerated 
estimate. 

Very  few  of  the  streets  in  any  part  of  the  town 
are  broad ;  all  of  them  seem  like  lanes  to  a  Peters- 
burger,  and  "they  are  forever  going  up  and  down," 


318  MOSCOW  MEMORIES. 

as  a  Petersburg  cabman  described  the  Moscow  hills  to 
me,  in  serious  disapproval.  He  had  found  the  ground 
too  excitingly  uneven  and  the  inhabitants  too  evenly 
dull  to  live  with  for  more  than  a  fortnight,  he  con- 
fessed to  me.  Many  of  the  old  mansions  in  the 
centre  of  the  town  have  been  converted  into  shops, 
offices,  and  lodgings ;  and  huge,  modern  business 
buildings  have  taken  the  places  formerly  occupied,  I 
presume,  by  the  picturesque  "  hovels "  of  the  trav- 
elers' tales. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  places  in  the  White 
Town  to  me  was  the  huge  foundling  asylum,  estab- 
lished by  Katherine  II.,  immediately  after  her  acces- 
sion to  the  throne.  There  are  other  institutions 
connected  with  it,  such  as  a  school  for  orphan  girls. 
But  the  hospital  for  the  babies  is  the  centre  of  in- 
terest. There  are  about  six  hundred  nurses  always 
on  hand.  Very  few  of  them  have  more  than  one 
nursling  to  care  for,  and  a  number  of  babies  who 
enter  life  below  par,  so  to  speak,  are  accommodated 
with  incubators.  The  nurses  stand  in  battalions  in 
the  various  large  halls,  all  clad  alike,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  woolen  kokdshnik,  —  the  coronet-shaped 
headdress  with  its  cap  for  the  hair,  —  which  is  of  a 
different  color  in  each  room.  It  requires  cords  of 
"cartwheels"  —  the  big  round  loaves  of  black  bread 
—  to  feed  this  army  of  nurses.  If  they  are  not  fed 
on  their  ordinary  peasant  food,  cabbage  soup  and 
sour  black  bread,  they  fall  ill  and  the  babies  suffer, 
as  no  bottles  are  used. 

The  fact  that  the  babies  are  washed  every  day  was 
impressed  on  my  mind  by  the  behavior  of  the  little 
creatures  while  undergoing  the  operation.  They  pro- 
tested a  little  in  gentle  squeaks  when  the  water 


MOSCOW  MEMORIES.  319 

touched  them,  but  quieted  down  instantly  when  they 
were  wiped.  It  is  my  belief  that  Russian  children 
never  cry  except  during  their  bath.  I  heard  no  in- 
fantile wailing  except  in  this  asylum,  and  very  little 
there.  Many  Russian  mothers  of  all  ranks  still  tie 
up  their  babies  tightly  in  swaddling  clothes,  on  the 
old-fashioned  theory  that  it  makes  their  limbs  straight. 
But  these  foundlings  are  not  swaddled.  After  its 
bath,  the  baby  is  laid  on  a  fresh,  warm,  linen  cloth, 
which  is  then  wrapped  around  it  in  a  particular  man- 
ner, so  that  it  is  securely  fastened  without  the  use  of 
a  single  pin.  Two  other  cloths,  similarly  wrapped, 
complete  the  simple,  comfortable  toilet.  This  and 
another  Russian  habit,  that  of  allowing  a  baby  to 
kick  about  in  its  crib  clad  only  in  its  birthday  suit, 
I  commend  to  the  consideration  of  American  mothers. 
The  last  thing  in  the  asylum  which  is  shown  to 
visitors  is  the  manner  in  which  the  babies  are  re- 
ceived, washed,  weighed,  and  numbered.  It  was  early 
in  December  when  I  was  there,  but  the  numbers  on 
the  ivory  disks  suspended  from  the  new  arrivals' 
necks  were  a  good  many  hundred  above  seventeen 
thousand.  As  they  begin  each  year  with  No.  1,  I 
think  the  whole  number  of  foundlings  for  that  par- 
ticular year  must  have  been  between  eighteen  and 
nineteen  thousand.  The  children  are  put  out  to 
board,  after  a  short  stay  at  the  asylum,  in  peasant 
families,  which  receive  a  small  sum  per  month  for 
taking  care  of  them.  When  the  boys  grow  up  they 
count  as  members  of  the  family  in  a  question  of 
army  service,  and  the  sons  of  the  family  can  escape 
their  turn,  I  was  told,  if  matters  are  rightly  managed. 
The  girls  become  uniformed  servants  in  the  govern- 
ment institutions  for  the  education  of  girls  of  the 
higher  classes,  or  marry  peasants. 


320  MOSCOW  MEMORIES. 

The  most  famous  of  the  gates  which  lead  from  the 
White  Town  through  the  white,  machicolated  walls 
into  China  Town  1  is  the  Iversky,  or  gate  of  the 
Iberian  Virgin.  The  gate  has  two  entrances,  and 
between  these  tower-crowned  openings  stands  a  chapel 
of  malachite  and  marble,  gilded  bronze  and  painting. 
The  Iversky  Virgin  who  inhabits  the  chapel,  though 
"  wonder-working,"  is  only  a  copy  of -one  in  the  mon- 
astery on  Mount  Athos.  She  was  brought  to  Russia 
in  1666,  and  this  particular  chapel  was  built  for  her 
by  Katherine  II.  Her  garment  and  crown  of  gold 
weigh  between  twenty-seven  and  twenty-eight  pounds, 
and  are  studded  with  splendid  jewels.  But  the  Vir- 
gin whom  one  sees  in  the  chapel  is  not  even  this 
copy,  but  a  copy  of  the  copy.  The  original  Virgin, 
as  we  may  call  the  first  copy  for  convenience,  is  in 
such  great  demand  for  visits  to  convents  and  mon- 
asteries, to  private  houses  and  the  shops  of  wealthy 
and  devout  merchants,  that  she  is  never  at  home  from 
early  morn  till  late  at  night,  and  the  second  copy 
represents  her  to  the  thousands  of  prayerful  people 
of  all  classes,  literally,  who  stop  to  place  a  candle  or 
utter  a  petition.  The  original  Virgin  travels  about 
the  town,  meanwhile,  in  a  blue  coach  adorned  with 
her  special  device,  like  a  coat  of  arms,  and  drawn  by 
six  horses;  and  the  persons  whom  she  honors  with  a 
visit  offer  liberal  gifts.  The  heads  of  her  coachman, 
postilions,  and  footman  are  supposed  to  be  respect- 
fully bared  in  all  weathers,  but  when  it  is  very  cold 

1  Ancient  Moscow,  lying  in  a  walled  semicircle  just  outside  the 
walls  of  the  Kremlin.  All  the  trading  was  done  on  the  "  Red  Square," 
where  the  Gostinny  Dvor  now  stands,  and  all  Oriental  merchants 
were  known  by  the  common  designation  of  "  Chinese/'  At  the  pres- 
ent day  "  Chinese  "  has  been  replaced  by  "  German,"  to  designate 
foreigners  in  general. 


MOSCOW  MEMORIES.  321 

these  men  wind  woolen  shawls,  of  the  nondescript, 
dirt  color,  which  characterizes  the  hair  of  most  peas- 
ants, adroitly  round  their  heads,  allowing  the  fringe 
to  hang  and  simulate  long  locks.  The  large  image 
of  the  Virgin,  in  its  massive  frame,  occupies  the 
seat  of  honor.  A  priest  and  a  deacon,  clad  in  crim- 
son velvet  and  gold  vestments,  their  heads  unpro- 
tected, even  in  the  most  severe  weather,  by  anything 
but  their  own  thick  hair,  sit  respectfully  with  their 
backs  to  the  horses.  When  the  Virgin  drives  along, 
passers-by  pause,  salute,  and  cross  themselves.  Evi- 
dently, under  these  circumstances,  it  is  difficult  for 
a  foreigner  to  get  a  view  of  the  original  Virgin. 
We  were  fortunate,  however.  Our  first  invitation 
in  Moscow  was  from  the  Abbess  of  an  important  con- 
vent to  be  present  at  one  of  the  services  which  I  have 
mentioned,  —  a  sort  of  invocation  of  the  Virgin's 
blessing, — in  her  cell,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
service  we  were  asked  if  we  would  not  like  to  "  salute 
the  Virgin  "  and  take  a  sip  of  the  holy  water  "  for 
health."  Of  course  we  did  both,  as  courtesy  de- 
manded. Some  time  after  that,  as  we  were  driving 
along  the  principal  street  of  China  Town,  I  saw  an 
imposing  equipage  approaching,  and  remarked,  "  Here 
comes  the  Iversky  Virgin." 

"  Excuse  me,  madam,"  said  my  cabman,  —  I  had 
not  addressed  him,  but  as  I  had  spoken  involuntarily 
in  Russian  he  thought  I  had,  —  "  it  is  not  the  Vir- 
gin, it  is  only  the  Saviour.  Don't  you  see  that  there 
are  only  four  horses  ?  " 

"  Very  true  ;  and  St.  Sergius  drives  with  three, 
and  St.  Pantaleimon  with  two,  —  do  they  not?  Tell 
me,  which  of  them  all  would  you  ask  to  visit  you, 
if  you  wished  a  blessing  ?  " 


322  MOSCOW  MEMORIES. 

"  St.  Pantaleimon  is  a  good,  all-round  saint,  who 
helps  well  in  most  cases,"  he  replied  thoughtfully. 
This  seemed  a  good  opportunity  to  get  a  popular 
explanation  of  a  point  which  had  puzzled  me. 

"  Which,"  I  asked,  "  is  the  real  miraculous  Iversky 
Virgin  ?  —  the  one  in  the  chapel,  the  one  who  rides 
in  the  carriage,  or  the  original  on  Mount  Athos?" 

"  It  is  plain  that  you  don't  understand  in  the 
least,"  answered  my  izvtistchik,  turning  round  in  his 
seat  and  imperiling  our  lives  by  his  driving,  while 
he  plunged  into  the  subject  with  profound  earnest- 
ness. "  None  of  them  is  the  Virgin,  and  all  of  them 
are  the  Virgin.  All  the  different  Virgins  are  merely 
different  manifestations  of  the  Virgin  to  men.  The 
Virgin  herself  is  in  heaven,  and  communicates  her 
power  where  she  wills.  It  is  like  the  Life-giving 
Trinity."  Assuming  that  as  a  foreigner,  and  conse- 
quently a  heretic,  I  did  not  understand  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  he  proceeded  to  expound  it,  and  did 
it  extremely  well.  I  lent  half  an  ear  in  amazement 
to  him,  and  half  an  ear  I  reserved  for  the  objurga- 
tions of  the  drivers  who  were  so  good  as  to  spare  our 
lives  in  that  crowded  thoroughfare  while  my  theo- 
logical lesson  was  in  progress. 

While  I  am  speaking  of  this  unusual  cabman,  I 
may  mention  some  unusual  private  coachmen  in 
Moscow  who  use  their  masters'  sledges  and  carriages 
for  public  conveyances  while  their  owners  are  safely 
engaged  in  theatre  or  restaurant.  I  do  not  think 
that  trick  could  be  played  in  Petersburg.  I  found 
it  out  by  receiving  an  amazingly  reasonable  offer 
from  a  very  well-dressed  man  with  a  superb  gray 
horse  and  a  fine  sledge.  As  we  dashed  along  at 
lightning  speed,  I  asked  the  man  whether  he  owned 


MOSCOW  MEMORIES.  323 

that  fine  turnout  or  worked  on  wages.  "  I  own  it 
myself,"  lie  said  curtly.  Therefore,  when  I  alighted, 
I  slipped  round  behind  the  sledge  and  scrutinized  it 
thoroughly  under  the  gaslight.  The  back  was  dec- 
orated with  a  monogram  and  a  count's  coronet  in 
silver!  After  that  I  never  asked  questions,  but  I 
always  knew  what  had  happened  when  I  picked  up 
very  comfortable  equipages  at  very  reasonable  rates 
in  places  which  were  between  gas  lanterns  and  near 
theatres  and  so  forth. 

I  should  not  be  doing  my  duty  by  a  very  important 
factor  in  Russian  life  if  I  omitted  an  illustration  of 
the  all-pervading  influence  of  "  official "  rank,  and 
the  prestige  which  acquaintance  with  officialdom  lends 
even  to  modest  travelers  like  ourselves.  It  was,  most 
appropriately,  in  the  Kremlin,  the  heart  of  Russia, 
that  we  were  favored  with  the  most  amusing  of  the 
many  manifestations  of  it  which  came  within  our 
experience.  We  were  looking  at  the  objects  of 
interest  in  the  Treasury,  when  I  noticed  a  large, 
handsomely  bound  book,  flanked  by  pen  and  ink,  on 
a  side  table.  I  opened  the  book,  but  before  I  could 
read  a  word  an  attendant  pounced  upon  me. 

"  Don't  touch  that,"  he  said  peremptorily. 

"  Why  not  ?  If  you  do  not  wish  people  to  look 
at  this  collection  of  ancient  documents,  —  I  suppose 
that  is  what  it  is,  —  you  should  lock  it  up,  or  label 
it  4  Hands  off  ! ' " 

"  It  is  n't  ancient  documents,  and  you  are  not  to 
touch  it,"  he  said,  taking  the  book  out  of  my  hands. 
"  It  is  strictly  reserved  for  the  signatures  of  distin- 
guished visitors,  —  crowned  heads,  royal  princes,  am- 
bassadors, and  the  like." 

"  Then  it  does  not  interest  me  in  the  least,  and  if 


324  MOSCOW  MEMORIES. 

you  would  label  it  to  that  effect,  no  one  would  care 
to  disturb  it,"  I  said. 

Very  soon  afterwards  we  were  joined  by  one  of  the 
powerful  officials  of  the  Kremlin.  He  had  made  an 
appointment  to  show  us  about,  but  was  detained  for 
a  few  moments,  and  we  had  come  on  alone  and  were 
waiting  for  him.  As  we  went  about  with  him  the 
attendants  hovered  respectfully  in  the  rear,  evidently 
much  impressed  with  the  friendly,  unofficial  tone  of 
the  conversation.  When  we  had  made  the  round 
with  much  deliberation,  we  excused  our  official  friend 
to  his  duties,  saying  that  we  wished  to  take  another 
look  at  several  objects. 

No  sooner  was  he  gone  than  the  guardian  of  the 
autograph  album  pounced  upon  us  again,  and  invited 
us  to  add  our  "  illustrious  "  names  to  the  list.  I  re- 
fused ;  he  entreated  and  argued.  It  ended  in  his 
fairly  dragging  us  to  the  table  and  standing  guard 
over  us  while  we  signed  the  sacred  book.  I  did  not 
condescend  to  examine  the  book,  though  I  should 
have  been  permitted  then  ;  but  —  I  know  which  three 
royal  princes  immediately  preceded  us. 

As  I  am  very  much  attached  to  the  Russian  Church, 
anything  connected  with  it  always  interested  me 
deeply.  One  of  the  prominent  features  of  Moscow 
is  the  number  of  monasteries  and  convents.  The 
Russian  idea  of  monastic  life  is  prayer  and  contem- 
plation, not  activity  in  good  works.  The  ideal  of 
devout  secular  life  is  much  the  same.  To  meet  the 
wants  in  that  direction  of  people  who  do  not  care  to 
join  the  community,  many  of  the  convents  have  small 
houses  within  their  inclosures,  which  they  let  out  to 
applicants,  of  whom  there  is  always  an  abundance. 
The  occupants  of  these  houses  are  under  no  restric- 


MOSCOW  MEMORIES.  325 

tions  whatever,  except  as  to  observing  the  hours  of 
entry  and  exit  fixed  by  the  opening  and  closing  of 
the  convent  gates  ;  but,  naturally,  it  is  rather  expected 
of  them  that  they  will  attend  more  church  services 
than  the  busy  people  of  "  the  world."  The  sight  of 
these  little  houses  always  oppressed  me  with  a  sense 
of  my  inferiority  in  the  matter  of  devoutness.  I 
could  not  imagine  myself  living  in  one  of  them,  until 
I  came  across  a  group  of  their  occupants  engaged  in 
discussing  some  racy  gossip  with  the  nuns  on  one  of 
the  doorsteps.  Gossip  is  not  my  besetting  weakness, 
but  I  felt  relieved.  Convents  are  not  aristocratic 
institutions  in  Russia  as  they  are  in  Roman  Catholic 
countries,  and  very  few  ladies  by  birth  and  education 
enter  them.  Those  who  do  are  apt  to  rise  to  the 
post  of  abbess,  influential  connections  not  being  su- 
perfluous in  any  calling  in  Russia  any  more  than  in 
other  countries. 

If  I  were  a  nun  I  should  prefer  activity.  I  think 
that  contemplation,  except  in  small  doses,  is  calcu- 
lated to  produce  stupidity.  Illustration  :  I  was  pass- 
ing along  a  street  in  Moscow  when  my  eye  fell  upon 
an  elderly  nun  seated  at  the  gate  of  a  convent,  with 
a  little  table  whereon  stood  a  lighted  taper.  Beside 
the  taper,  on  a  threadbare  piece  of  black  velvet,  dec- 
orated with  the  customary  cross  in  gold  braid,  lay  a 
few  copper  coins  before  a  dark  and  ancient  ik6na. 
Evidently,  the  public  was  solicited  to  contribute  in 
the  name  of  the  saint  there  portrayed,  though  I  could 
not  recollect  that  the  day  was  devoted  to  a  saint  of 
sufficient  importance  to  warrant  the  intrusion  of  that 
table  on  the  narrow  sidewalk.  I  halted  and  asked 
the  nun  what  day  it  was,  and  who  was  the  saint  de- 
picted in  the  image.  She  said  she  did  not  know. 


326  MOSCOW  MEMORIES. 

This  seemed  incredible,  and  I  persisted  in  my  in- 
quiry. She  called  a  policeman  from  the  middle  of 
the  street,  where  he  was  regulating  traffic  as  usual, 
and  asked  him  about  the  ik6na  and  the  day,  with  the 
air  of  a  helpless  child.  Church  and  State  set  to 
work  guessing  with  great  heartiness  and  good-will, 
but  so  awkwardly  that  it  was  the  easiest  thing  in  the 
world  for  me  to  refute  each  successive  guess.  When 
we  tired  of  that,  I  gave  the  nun  a  kopek  for  the 
entertainment  she  had  unconsciously  afforded,  and 
thanked  the  policeman,  after  which  the  policeman  and 
I  left  the  good  nun  sitting  stolidly  at  the  receipt  of 
custom. 

Quite  at  the  opposite  pole  was  my  experience  one 
hot  summer  day  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Assump- 
tion, where  the  emperors  have  been  crowned  for  cen- 
turies; or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  the  two  poles 
met  and  embraced  in  that  church,  the  heart  of  the 
heart  of  Holy  Russia.  The  early  Patriarchs  and 
Metropolitans  are  buried  in  this  cathedral  in  superb 
silver-gilt  coffins.  Of  these,  the  tomb  and  shrine  of 
Metropolitan  Jona  seems  to  be  the  goal  of  the  most 
numerous  pilgrimages.  I  stood  near  it,  in  the  rear 
corner  of  the  church,  one  Sunday  morning,  while  mass 
was  in  progress.  An  unbroken  stream  of  people, 
probably  all  of  them  pilgrims  to  the  Holy  City,  her 
saints  and  shrines,  passed  me,  crossed  themselves, 
knelt  in  a  "ground  reverence,"  kissed  the  saint's 
coffin,  then  the  hand  of  the  priest,  who  stood  by  to 
preserve  order  and  bless  each  person  as  he  or  she 
turned  away.  To  my  surprise,  I  heard  many  of  them 
inquire  the  name  of  the  shrine's  occupant  after  they 
had  finished  their  prayers.  After  the  service  and  a 
little  chat  with  this  priest,  who  seemed  a  very  sen- 


MOSCOW  MEMORIES.  327 

sible  man,  we  went  forward  to  take  another  look  at 
the  Vladimir  Virgin,  the  most  famous  and  histori- 
cal in  all  Russia,  in  her  golden  case.  A  gray-haired 
old  army  colonel,  who  wore  the  Vladimir  cross,  per- 
ceiving from  our  speech  that  we  were  foreigners, 
politely  began  to  explain  to  us  the  noteworthy  points 
about  the  church  and  the  Virgin.  It  soon  appeared, 
however,  that  we  were  far  more  familiar  with  them 
all  than  he  was,  and  we  fell  into  conversation. 

44  I  am  stationed  in  Poland,"  he  said,  "  and  I  have 
never  been  in  Moscow  before.  I  am  come  on  a  pil- 
grimage to  the  Holy  City,  but  everything  is  so  dear 
here  that  I  must  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  visit- 
ing many  of  the  shrines  in  the  neighborhood.  It  is  a 
great  happiness  to  me  to  be  present  thus  at  the  mass 
in  my  own  pravosldvny  church,  and  in  Moscow." 

"  But  there  are  Orthodox  churches  in  Poland, 
surely,"  I  said. 

"  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  there  are  a  few ;  and  I  go 
whenever  I  get  a  chance." 

"  What  do  you  do  when  you  have  not  the 
chance  ?  " 

"  I  go  to  whatever  church  there  is,  —  the  Roman 
Catholic,  the  Lutheran,  the  Synagogue." 

"  Is  that  allowed  ?  "  I  asked.  I  knew  very  well 
that  Russians  attend  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant 
churches  when  abroad,  as  a  matter  of  course,  though 
I  had  not  before  heard  of  the  Synagogue  in  the  list, 
and  I  wished  to  hear  what  the  earnest  old  colonel 
would  say. 

44  Why  not  ?  why  should  n't  I  ?  "  he  replied.  "  We 
all  go  to  church  to  worship  God  and  to  pray  to  Him. 
Does  it  matter  about  the  form  or  the  language  ?  A 
man  has  as  much  as  he  can  do  to  be  a  Christian  and 


328  MOSCOW  MEMORIES. 

an  honest  man,  —  which  are  two  very  different  things 
nowadays,  apparently,  —  without  troubling  himself 
about  those  petty  details." 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  say  that  we  swore  friend- 
ship with  the  colonel  on  the  spot,  on  those  founda- 
tions. Our  acquaintance  ended  with  our  long  talk 
there  in  the  cathedral,  since  we  could  not  well  stop 
in  Poland  to  accept  the  delightful  old  officer's  invi- 
tation to  visit  him  and  his  wife.  But  the  friendship 
remains,  I  hope. 

When  he  left  us,  a  young  fellow  about  seventeen 
years  of  age,  who  had  been  standing  near  us  and  lis- 
tening to  the  last  part  of  our  conversation  with  an 
air  of  profound  and  respectful  interest  which  obviated 
all  tracje  of  impertinence,  stepped  up  and  said :  — 

"  May  I  have  the  pleasure  of  showing  you  about 
the  cathedral  ?  You  seem  to  appreciate  our  Russian 
ways  and  thoughts.  I  have  taken  a  good  deal  of 
interest  in  studying  the  history  and  antiquities  of  my 
native  city,  and  I  may  be  able  to  point  out  a  few 
things  to  you  here." 

He  was  a  pleasant-faced  young  fellow,  with  mod- 
est, engaging  manners;  a  student  in  one  of  the  gov- 
ernment institutions,  it  appeared.  He  looked  very 
cool  and  comfortable  in  a  suit  of  coarse  gray  linen. 
He  proved  to  be  an  admirable  cicerone,  and  we  let 
him  escort  us  about  for  the  pleasure  of  listening, 
though  we  had  seen  everything  many  times  already. 
I  commented  on  his  knowledge,  and  on  the  evident 
pride  which  he  took  in  his  country,  and  especially 
in  his  church,  remarking  that  he  seemed  to  be  very 
well  informed  on  many  points  concerning  the  latter, 
and  able  to  explain  the  reasons  for  things  in  an  un- 
usual way. 


MOSCOW  MEMORIES.  329 

"  Yt-s,"  be  answered,  "  I  am  proud  and  fond  of  my 
country  and  my  church.  We  Russians  do  not  study 
them  as  we  should,  I  am  ashamed  to  say.  There, 
for  instance,  is  my  cousin,  Princess ,  who  is  con- 
sidered a  very  well-informed  young  woman  on  all 
necessary  points.  She  was  to  make  her  communion, 
and  so  some  one  brought  her  to  the  church  while  the 
Hours  were  being  read,  as  is  proper,  though  she 
usually  comes  very  much  later.  She  had  not  been 
there  ten  minutes  before  she  began  to  ask  :  '  When 
does  the  Sacrament  come  ?  Is  n't  it  pretty  soon  ? ' 
and  she  kept  that  up  at  short  intervals,  despite  all  I 
could  do  to  stop  her.  I  am  quite  sure,"  he  added, 
"  that  I  need  not  explain  to  you,  though  you  are  a 
foreigner,  where  the  Hours  and  the  Sacrament  come 
in  the  service  ?  " 

"  No :  the  Hours  precede  the  Liturgy,  and  the 
administration  of  the  Sacrament  comes  very  nearly 
at  the  end  of  all." 

"  Exactly.  You  understand  what  a  disgrace  such 
ignorance  was  on  my  cousin's  part." 

He  was  charming,  amusingly  frank  on  many 
points  which  I  had  supposed  to  be  rather  delicate 
with  members  of  the  "Orthodox"  (as  I  must  call 
it  for  the  lack  of  a  possible  English  equivalent  for 
pravosldvny)  Russian  Church,  but  so  well-bred  and 
intelligent,  withal,  that  we  were  sincerely  sorry  to  say 
good-by  to  him  at  the  door  of  our  hotel. 


XIII. 

THE  NIZHNI  NdVGOKOD   FAIR  AND  THE  VOLGA. 

THE  most  picturesque  and  appropriate  way  of 
reaching  Nizhni  Novgorod  is  by  the  Volga,  with 
which  its  life  is  so  intimately  connected,  and  the 
most  characteristic  time  to  see  the  Volga  steamers  is 
on  the  way  upstream  during  the  Fair. 

What  an  assortment  of  people  we  had  on  board  ! 
To  begin  with,  our  boat  was  commanded  by  a  Vice- 
Admiral  in  full  uniform.  His  family  was  with  him, 
spending  the  summer  on  board  sailing  up  and  down 
the  river  between  Nizhni  Novgorod  and  Astrakhan. 

The  passengers  over  whom  the  vice-admiral  ruled 
were  delightfully  varied.  There  were  Russians  from 
every  quarter  of  the  empire,  and  of  as  many  races, 
including  Armenians.  One  of  the  latter,  an  old  man 
with  a  physiognomy  not  to  be  distinguished,  even  by 
our  Russian  friends  who  were  traveling  with  us,  from 
that  of  a  Jew,  seemed  to  take  no  interest  in  anything 
except  in  telling  over  a  short  rosary  of  amber  beads, 
and  standing  guard  at  all  stopping-places  over  his 
cabin,  which  he  was  determined  to  occupy  alone, 
though  he  had  paid  but  one  fare.  After  he  had  done 
this  successfully  at  several  landing-places  and  had 
consigned  several  men  to  the  second  cabin,  an  ener- 
getic man  appealed  to  the  admiral.  It  required  some 
vigorous  language  and  a  threat  to  break  open  the 
door  if  the  key  were  not  forthcoming,  before  the 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  331 

admiral  could  overcome  the  resistance  of  the  obsti- 
nate old  Armenian,  who  protested,  in  very  bad  Rus- 
sian, that  he  was  very  ill  indeed,  and  should  cer- 
tainly die  if  any  one  entered  his  cabin.  He  was  still 
alive  when  we  reached  the  end  of  our  voyage,  and  had 
cleverly  made  his  cabin-mate  pay  for  all  his  food. 

Among  the  second-class  passengers  was  a  party 
of  students  returning  to  the  University  of  Kazan. 
They  exhibited  all  degrees  of  shabbiness,  but  this 
was  only  the  modest  plumage  of  the  nightingale, 
apparently.  For  hours  they  sang  songs,  all  beauti- 
ful, all  strange  to  us,  and  we  listened  entranced 
until  tea,  cigarettes,  and  songs  came  to  an  end  in 
time  to  permit  them  a  few  hours  of  sleep  before  we 
reached  their  landing.  The  third-class  passengers, 
who  were  also  lodged  on  the  upper  deck,  aft,  in- 
cluded Tatars  and  other  Mohammedans  from  the 
Orient,  who  spread  their  prayer-rugs  at  sundown 
and  went  through  their  complicated  devotions  with 
an  air  of  being  quite  oblivious  to  spectators.  Sev- 
eral got  permission  from  the  admiral  to  ascend  to 
the  hurricane  deck.  But  this,  while  unnecessary  as 
a  precaution  against  crowding  or  interference  from 
their  numerous  Russian  fellow-passengers,  rendered 
them  more  conspicuous  ;  and  even  this  was  not  suffi- 
cient to  make  the  instinctively  courteous  Russians 
stare  at  or  notice  them. 

The  fourth-class  passengers  were  on  the  lower 
deck.  Among  them  was  a  company  of  soldiers  in 
very  shabby  uniforms,  who  had  been  far  down  the 
river  earning  a  little  money  by  working  in  the  har- 
vest fields,  where  hands  are  always  too  few,  and  who 
were  returning  to  garrison  at  Kazan.  Some  enter- 
prising passengers  from  Astrakhan  had  laid  in  a 


332  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

large  stock  of  the  delicious  round  watermelons  and 
luscious  cantaloupe  melons.  By  the  time  we  reached 
Kazan,  there  were  not  many  melons  left  in  that 
improvised  shop  on  the  lower  deck.  Russians  are 
as  fond  of  watermelons  as  are  the  American  negroes. 

At  Samara  we  had  seen  enormous  bales  of  camel's- 
hair,  weighing  upwards  of  eight  hundred  pounds, 
in  picturesque  mats  of  red,  yellow,  and  brown,  taken 
on  board  for  the  Fair.  The  porters  seemed  to  find 
it  easy  to  carry  them  on  their  backs,  aided  only  by  a 
sort  of  small  chair-back,  with  a  narrow,  seat-like 
projection  at  the  lower  end,  which  was  fastened 
by  straps  passing  over  the  shoulders  and  under  the 
arms.  When  we  left  Kazan,  I  noticed  that  a  huge 
open  barge  was  being  towed  upstream  alongside  us, 
that  it  was  being  filled  with  these  bales,  to  lighten 
the  steamer  for  the  sand-bars  and  shallows  of  the 
upper  river,  and  that  a  monotonous  but  very  musical 
cadence  was  being  repeated  at  intervals,  in  muffled 
tones,  somewhere  on  board.  I  went  down  to  the 
cargo  department  of  the  lower  deck  and  found  the 
singers,  —  the  herculean  porters.  One  after  another 
they  bent  their  backs,  and  two  mates  hoisted  the 
huge  bales,  chanting  a  refrain  which  enabled  them 
to  move  and  lift  in  unison.  The  words  were  to  the 
following  effect :  "  If  all  don't  grasp  together,  we 
cannot  lift  the  weight."  The  music  was  sad,  but 
irresistibly  sweet  and  fascinating,  and  I  stood  listen- 
ing and  watching  until  the  great  barge  was  filled 
and  dropped  behind,  for  the  company's  tug  to  pick 
up  and  tow  to  Nizhni  with  a  string  of  other  barges. 

It  is  probably  a  vulgar  detail,  but  I  must  chronicle 
the  fact  that  the  cooking  on  these  Volga  steamers  — 
on  the  line  we  patronized,  at  least  —  is  among  the 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  333 

very  best  to  be  found  in  Russia,  in  my  experience. 
On  the  voyage  upstream,  when  they  are  well  sup- 
plied with  sterlet  and  other  fish,  all  alive,  from  As- 
trakhan, the  dinners  are  treats  for  which  one  may 
sigh  in  vain  in  the  capitals  of  St.  Petersburg  and 
Moscow,  with  their  mongrel  German -French -Rus- 
sian cookery.  The  dishes  are  very  Russian,  but  they 
are  very  good. 

I  remember  one  particularly  delicious  concoction 
was  composed  of  fresh  sterlet  and  sour  cabbage,  with 
white  grapes  on  top,  baked  to  a  brown  crispness. 

We  arrived  at  our  wharf  on  the  Volga  front  of  the 
old  town  of  Nizhni  Novgorod  about  five  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  Above  us  rose  the  steep  green  hills 
on  whose  crest  stood  the  Kremlin,  containing  several 
ancient  churches,  the  governor's  house,  and  so  forth. 
On  a  lower  terrace,  to  right  and  left,  stood  monas- 
teries and  churches  intermingled  with  shops  and 
mediocre  dwellings.  The  only  noteworthy  church 
was  that  in  front  of  us,  with  its  picturesque  but 
un-Russian  rococo  plaster  decoration  on  red  brick, 
crowned  by  genuine  Russian  domes  and  crosses  of 
elaborately  beautiful  patterns. 

But  we  did  not  pause  long  to  admire  this  part  of 
the  view,  which  was  already  familiar  to  us.  What 
a  change  had  come  over  the  scene  since  we  had 
bidden  it  farewell  on  our  way  downstream  !  Then 
everything  was  dead,  or  slumbering,  except  the  old 
town,  the  city  proper ;  and  that  had  not  seemed  to 
be  any  too  much  awake  or  alive.  The  Fair  town, 
situated  on  the  sand-spit  between  the  Volga  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Okd,  stood  locked  up  and  deserted,  as 
it  had  stood  since  the  close  of  last  year's  Fair.  Now, 
as  we  gazed  over  the  prow  of  the  steamer,  we  could 


334  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

see  the  bridge  across  the  Oka  black  with  the  swarm- 
ing masses  of  pedestrians  and  equipages. 

The  steamer  company  allows  its  patrons  to  sleep 
(but  not  to  eat)  on  board  the  night  after  arrival  and 
the  night  before  starting,  and  we  availed  ourselves  of 
the  privilege,  having  heard  that  it  was  often  no  easy 
matter  to  secure  accommodations  in  the  Fair,  and 
having  no  intention  of  returning  to  our  former  hotel, 
miles  from  all  the  fun,  in  the  upper  town,  if  we  could 
help  it. 

The  only  vacant  rooms  in  the  Fair  seemed  to  be 
at  the  "best  hotel,"  to  which  we  had  been  recom- 
mended, with  a  smile  of  amusement  which  had  puz- 
zled us,  by  a  Moscow  friend,  an  officer  in  the  army. 
Prices  were  very  high  at  this  hotel,  which,  like  Amer- 
ican summer  hotels,  is  forced  to  make  its  hay  for 
the  year  during  the  season  of  six  weeks,  after  which 
it  is  locked  up.  Our  room  was  small;  the  floor,  of 
rough  boards,  was  bare  ;  the  beds  were  not  comfort- 
able. For  the  same  price,  in  Petersburg  or  Moscow, 
we  should  have  had  a  spacious  room  on  the  bel  gtage, 
handsomely  furnished,  with  rugs  on  an  inlaid  floor. 

Across  one  corner  of  the  dining-room  was  built  a 
low  platform,  on  which  stood  a  piano.  We  soon  dis- 
covered its  use.  Coming  in  about  nine  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  we  ordered  our  samovar  for  tea  in  the  din- 
ing-room, —  a  most  unusual  place.  The  proper  place 
was  our  own  room.  But  we  had  found  a  peculiar 
code  of  etiquette  prevailing  -here,  governed  by  exces- 
sive modesty  and  propriety,  no  doubt,  but  an  ob- 
structionist etiquette,  nevertheless.  The  hall-waiter, 
whose  business  it  is  to  serve  the  samovar  and  coffee, 
was  not  allowed  to  enter  our  room,  though  his  fellows 
had  served  us  throughout  the  country,  after  the  fash- 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  335 

ion  of  the  land.  Here  we  were  compelled  to  wait 
upon  the  leisure  of  the  chambermaid,  a  busy  and 
capricious  person,  who  would  certainly  not  be  on 
hand  in  the  evening  if  she  was  not  in  the  morning. 
Accordingly,  we  ordered  our  tea  in  the  dining-room, 
as  I  have  said.  Presently,  a  chorus  of  girls,  dressed 
all  alike,  mounted  the  platform,  and  sang  three 
songs  to  an  accompaniment  banged  upon  the  piano 
by  a  man.  Being  violently  applauded  by  a  long 
table-full  of  young  merchants  who  sat  near,  at  whom 
they  had  been  singing  and  staring,  without  any  at- 
tempt at  disguise,  and  with  whom  they  had  even 
been  exchanging  remarks,  they  sang  two  songs  more. 
They  were  followed  by  another  set  of  girls,  also  in  a 
sort  of  uniform  costume,  who  sang  five  songs  at  the 
young  merchants.  It  appeared  that  one  party  was 
called  "  Russian  singers,"  and  the  other  "  German 
singers."  We  found  out  afterwards,  by  watching 
operations  on  another  evening,  that  these  five  songs 
formed  the  extent  of  their  respective  repertories. 

A  woman  about  forty-five  years  of  age  accom- 
panied them  into  the  room,  then  planted  herself 
with  her  back  against  the  wall  near  us,  which  was 
as  far  away  from  her  charges  as  space  permitted. 
She  was  the  "  sheep-dog,"  and  we  soon  saw  that, 
while  discreetly  oblivious  of  the  smiles,  glances,  and 
behavior  of  her  lambs,  —  as  all  well-trained  society 
sheep-dogs  are,  — she  kept  darting  sharp  looks  at  us 
as  though  we  were  doing  something  quite  out  of  the 
way  and  improper.  By  that  time  we  had  begun  to 
suspect,  for  various  reasons,  that  the  Nizhni  Fair  is 
intended  for  men,  not  for  —  ladies.  But  we  were 
determined  quietly  to  convince  ourselves  of  the  state 
of  affairs,  so  we  stood  our  ground,  dallied  with  our 


336  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

tea,  drank  an  enormous  quantity  of  it,  and  kept  our 
eyes  diligently  in  the  direction  where  those  of  the 
sheep-dog  should  have  been,  but  never  were. 

Their  very  bad  singing  over,  the  lambs  disappeared 
to  the  adjoining  veranda.  The  young  merchants 
slipped  out,  one  by  one.  The  waiters  began  to  carry 
great  dishes  of  peaches,  and  other  dainty  fruits,  — 
all  worth  their  weight  in  gold  in  Russia,  and  espe- 
cially at  Nizhni,  —  together  with  bottles  of  cham- 
pagne, out  to  the  veranda.  When  we  were  satisfied, 
we  went  to  bed,  but  not  to  sleep.  The  peaches  kept 
that  party  on  the  veranda  and  in  the  rooms  below 
exhilarated  until  nearly  daylight.  I  suppose  the 
duenna  did  her  duty  and  sat  out  the  revel  in  the 
distant  security  of  the  dining-room.  Several  of  her 
charges  added  a  number  of  points  to  our  store  of 
information  the  next  day,  at  the  noon  breakfast  hour, 
when  the  duenna  was  not  present. 

We  began  to  think  that  we  understood  our  Mos- 
cow friend's  enigmatic  smile,  and  to  regret  that  we 
had  not  met  him  and  his  wife  at  the  Fair,  as  we  had 
originally  arranged  to  do. 

The  far-famed  Fair  of  Nizhni  Novgorod  —  "  Ma- 
kary,"  the  Russians  call  it,  from  the  town  and  mon- 
astery of  St.  Makary,  sixty  miles  farther  down  the 
Volga,  where  it  was  held  from  1624  until  the  present 
location  was  adopted  in  1824 — was  a  disappoint- 
ment to  us.  There  is  no  denying  that.  Until  rail- 
ways and  steamers  were  introduced  into  these  parts, 
and  facilitated  the  distribution  of  goods,  and  of  com- 
monplaceness  and  monotony,  it  probably  merited  all 
the  extravagant  praises  of  its  picturesqueness  and 
variety  which  have  been  lavished  upon  it.  The  trav- 
eler arrives  there  with  indefinite  but  vast  expecta- 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  337 

tions.  A  fancy  dress  ball  on  an  enormous  scale, 
combined  with  an  International  Exposition,  would 
seem  to  be  the  nearest  approach  possible  to  a  de- 
scription of  his  confused  anticipations.  That  is,  in  a 
measure,  what  one  sees  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
exactly  the  reverse  of  what  he  sees.  I  must  confess 
that  I  think  our  disappointment  was  partly  our  own 
fault.  Had  we,  like  most  travelers  who  have  written 
extravagantly  about  the  Fair,  come  to  it  fresh  from 
a  stay  of  (at  most)  three  weeks  in  St.  Petersburg  and 
Moscow  only,  we  should  have  been  much  impressed 
by  the  variety  of  types  and  goods,  I  have  no  doubt. 
But  we  had  spent  nearly  two  years  in  the  land,  and 
were  familiar  with  the  types  and  goods  of  the  capitals 
and  of  other  places,  so  that  there  was  little  that  was 
new  to  us.  Consequently,  though  we  found  the  Fair 
very  interesting,  we  were  not  able  to  excite  ourselves 
to  any  extravagant  degree  of  amazement  or  rapture. 
The  Fair  proper  consists  of  a  mass  of  two-story 
"  stone "  (brick  and  cement)  buildings,  inclosed  on 
three  sides  by  a  canal  in  the  shape  of  a  horseshoe. 
Through  the  centre  runs  a  broad  boulevard  planted 
with  trees,  ending  at  the  open  point  of  the  horseshoe 
in  the  residence  occupied  by  the  governor  during  the 
Fair  (he  usually  lives  in  the  Kremlin  of  the  Upper 
Town),  the  post-office,  and  other  public  buildings. 
Across  the  other  end  of  the  boulevard  and  "  rows  " 
of  the  Gostinny  Dvor,  with  their  arcades  full  of 
benches  occupied  by  fat  merchants  or  indolent  vis- 
itors, and  serving  as  a  chord  to  the  arc  of  the  horse- 
shoe, run  the  "  Chinese  rows,"  which  derive  their 
name  from  the  style  of  their  curving  iron  roofs  and 
their  ornaments,  not  from  the  nationality  of  the  mer- 
chants, or  of  the  goods  sold  there.  It  is,  probably, 


338  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

a  mere  accident  that  the  wholesale  shops  for  over- 
land tea  are  situated  in  the  Chinese  rows.  It  is  a 
good  place  to  see  the  great  bales  of  "  Kiakhta  tea," 
still  in  their  wrappings  of  rawhides,  with  the  hair 
inside  and  the  hieroglyphical  addresses,  weights,  and 
so  forth,  cut  into  the  skins,  instead  of  being  painted 
on  them,  just  as  they  have  been  brought  overland 
from  Kiakhta  on  the  Chinese  border  of  Siberia. 
Here,  also,  rises  the  great  Makary  Cathedral,  which 
towers  conspicuously  above  the  low-roofed  town.  In- 
side the  boundary  formed  by  this  Belt  Canal,  no 
smoking  is  allowed  in  the  streets,  under  penalty  of 
twenty-five  rubles  for  each  offense.  The  drainage 
system  is  flushed  from  the  river  every  night ;  and 
from  the  ventilation  towers,  which  are  placed  at 
short  intervals,  the  blue  smoke  of  purifying  fires  curls 
reassuringly.  Great  care  is  necessary  in  this  depart- 
ment, and  the  sanitary  conditions,  though  as  good  as 
possible,  are  never  very  secure.  The  whole  low  sand- 
spit  is  often  submerged  during  the  spring  floods,  and 
the  retreating  waters  leave  a  deposit  of  slime  and 
debris  behind  them,  which  must  be  cleared  away, 
besides  doing  much  damage  to  the  buildings. 

The  peculiarity  of  this  Makary  Fair  is  that  no- 
thing is  sold  by  sample,  in  modern  fashion ;  the 
whole  stock  of  goods  is  on  hand,  and  is  delivered  at 
once  to  purchasers.  The  taciturn,  easy-going  mer- 
chants in  those  insignificant-looking  shops  of  the  Gos- 
tinny  Dvor  "  rows,"  and,  to  a  small  extent,  in  the 
supplementary  town  which  has  sprung  up  outside 
the  canal,  set  the  prices  for  tea  and  goods  of  all 
sorts  all  over  Russia  and  Siberia  for  the  ensuing  year. 
Contracts  for  the  future  are  dated,  and  last  year's 
bills  fall  due,  at  "  Makary."  It  is  hard  to  realize. 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGbROD  FA  in.  339 

All  the  firms  with  whose  shops  we  had  been  fa- 
miliar in  Petersburg  and  Moscow  had  establishments 
here,  and,  at  first,  it  seemed  not  worth  while  to  in- 
spect their  stocks,  with  which  we  felt  perfectly  ac- 
quainted. But  we  soon  discovered  that  our  previous 
familiarity  enabled  us  to  distinguish  certain  articles 
which  are  manufactured  for  the  "  Fair "  trade  ex- 
clusively, and  which  are  never  even  shown  in  the 
capitals.  For  example,  the  great  porcelain  houses 
of  St.  Petersburg  manufacture  large  pipe-bowls,  ewers 
(with  basins  to  match)  of  the  Oriental  shape  familiar 
to  the  world  in  silver  and  brass,  and  other  things,  all 
decorated  with  a  deep  crimson  bordering  on  magenta, 
and  with  gold.  The  great  silk  houses  of  Moscow 
prepare  very  rich  and  very  costly  brocades  of  this 
same  deep  crimson  hue,  besprinkled  with  gold  and 
with  tiny  bouquets  of  bright  flowers,  or  in  which  the 
crimson  is  prominent.  They  even  copy  the  large, 
elaborate  patterns  from  the  robes  of  ancient  Doges 
of  Venice.  All  these,  like  the  pipes  and  ewers,  are 
made  to  suit  the  taste  of  customers  in  Bokhara  and 
other  Eastern  countries,  where  a  man's  rank  is,  to  a 
certain  degree,  to  be  recognized  by  the  number  and 
richness  of  the  khaldti  which  he  can  afford  to  wear 
at  one  time.  This  is  one  of  the  points  in  which  the 
civilization  of  the  East  coincides  very  nearly  with  the 
civilization  of  the  West.  The  Jchaldt  is  a  sort  of 
dressing-gown,  with  wide  sleeves,  which  is  girt  about 
the  waist  with  a  handsome  shawl ;  but  it  would 
strike  a  European  that  eight  or  ten  of  these,  worn  one 
on  top  of  the  other,  might  conduce  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  vanity,  but  not  to  comfort,  in  the  hot  coun- 
tries where  the  custom  prevails.  The  Bokhariots 
bring  to  the  Fair  khaldti  of  their  own  thin,  strong 


340  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

silk,  in  hues  more  gaudy  than  those  of  the  rainbow 
arid  the  peacock  combined,  which  are  always  lined 
\vith  pretty  green  and  white  chintz,  and  can  be 
bought  for  a  very  reasonable  price  in  the  Oriental 
shops,  together  with  jeweled  arms  and  ornaments, 
rugs,  and  a  great  variety  of  fascinating  wares. 

The  choicest  "  overland  "  tea  —  the  true  name  is 
"  Kiakhta  tea "  —  can  be  had  only  by  wholesale, 
alas!  and  it  is  the  same  with  very  many  things. 
There  are  shops  full  of  rolls  of  sarpinka,  a  fine, 
changeable  gingham  in  pink  and  blue,  green  and 
yellow,  and  a  score  of  other  combinations,  which 
washes  perfectly,  and  is  made  by  the  peasants,  far 
down  the  Volga,  in  the  season  when  agricultural 
labor  is  impossible.  There  are  furs  of  more  sorts 
than  the  foreign  visitor  is  likely  ever  to  have  seen 
before ;  iron  from  the  Ural  mines  by  the  ton,  on  a 
detached  sand-spit  in  the  Oka  River;  dried  and  salted 
fish  by  the  cord,  in  a  distant,  too  odorous  spot ;  gold- 
smiths' shops;  old-clothes  shops,  where  quaint  and 
beautiful  old  costumes  of  Russia  abound  ;  Tatar  shops, 
filled  with  fine,  multi-colored  leather  work  and  other 
Tatar  goods,  presided  over  by  the  stately  Tatars  from 
whom  we  had  bought  at  Kazdn  ;  shops  piled  with 
every  variety  of  dried  fruit,  where  prime  Sultana 
raisins  cost  forty  cents  for  a  box  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  pounds.  Altogether,  it  is  a  varied  and  in- 
structive medley. 

We  learned  several  trade  tricks.  For  example, 
we  came  upon  the  agency  of  a  Moscow  factory, 
which  makes  a  woolen  imitation  of  an  Oriental 
silken  fabric,  known  as  termalamd.  The  agent  ac- 
knowledged that  it  was  an  imitation,  and  said  that 
the  price  by  the  piece  was  twenty-five  cents  a  yard. 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  341 

In  the  Moscow  Oriental  shops  the  dealers  sell  it  for 
eight  times  that  price,  and  swear  that  it  is  genuine 
from  the  East.  A  Russian  friend  of  ours  had  been 
cheated  in  this  way,  and  the  dealers  attempted  to 
cheat  us  also,  —  in  vain,  after  our  Nizhni  investiga- 
tions. 

Every  one  seemed  to  be  absorbed  in  business,  to 
the  exclusion  of  every  other  thought.  But  some- 
times, as  we  wandered  along  the  boulevard,  and 
among  the  rows,  we  found  the  ground  of  the  Gos- 
tinny  Dvor  strewn  with  fresh  sprays  of  fragrant  fir, 
which  we  took  at  first  to  be  a  token  that  a  funeral 
had  occurred  among  some  of  the  merchants'  clerks 
who  lived  over  the  shops.  However,  it  appeared 
that  a  holy  picture  had  been  carried  along  the  rows, 
and  into  the  shops  of  those  who  desired  its  blessing 
on  their  trade,  and  a  short  service  had  been  held. 
The  "zeal"  of  these  numerous  devout  persons  must 
have  enriched  the  church  where  the  iktina  dwelt, 
judging  from  the  number  of  times  during  our  five 
days'  stay  that  we  came  upon  these  freshly  strewn 
paths. 

The  part  of  the  Fair  which  is  most  interesting  to 
foreigners  in  general,  I  think,  is  the  great  glass  gal- 
lery filled  with  retail  booths,  where  Russians  sell 
embroidery  and  laces  and  the  handiwork  of  the  peas- 
ants in  general  ;  where  Caucasians  deal  in  the  beau- 
tiful gold  and  silver  work  of  their  native  mountains ; 
where  swarthy  Bokhariots  sit  cross-legged,  with  im- 
perturbable dignity,  among  their  gay  wares,  while 
the  band  plays,  and  the  motley  crowd  bargains  and 
gazes  even  in  the  evening  when  all  the  other  shops 
are  closed. 

I  learned  here  an  extra  lesson  in  the  small  value 


342  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

attached  by  Russians  to  titles  in  themselves.  It  was 
at  the  Ekaterinburg  booth,  where  precious  and  semi- 
precious stones  from  the  Ural  and  Siberia,  in  great 
variety  and  beauty,  were  for  sale.  A  Russian  of  the 
higher  classes,  and,  evidently,  not  poor,  inquired  the 
price  of  a  rosary  of  amethysts,  with  a  cross  of  as- 
sorted gems  fit  for  a  bishop.  The  attendant  men- 
tioned the  price.  It  did  not  seem  excessive,  but  the 
bargainer  exclaimed,  in  a  bantering  tone,  — 

"  Come  now,  prince,  that 's  the  fancy  price.  Tell 
me  the  real  price." 

But  the  "prince"  would  not  make  any  reduction, 
and  his  customer  walked  away.  I  thought  I  would 
try  the  effect  of  the  title  on  the  Caucasians  and 
Bokhariots.  I  had  already  dropped  into  the  habit 
of  addressing  Tatars  as  "  prince,"  except  in  the  case 
of  hotel  waiters,  —  and  I  might  as  well  have  in- 
cluded them.  I  found  to  my  amusement  that,  instead 
of  resenting  it  as  an  impertinence,  they  reduced  the 
price  of  the  article  for  which  I  was  bargaining  by 
five  kopeks  (about  two  and  a  half  cents)  every  time 
I  used  the  title,  though  no  sign  of  gratification  dis- 
turbed the  serene  gravity  of  their  countenances  any 
more  than  if  they  had  been  Americans  and  I  had 
addressed  them  as  "colonel"  or  "judge,"  at  hap- 
hazard. Truly,  human  nature  varies  little  under 
different  skies !  But  I  know  now,  authoritatively, 
that  the  market  value  of  the  title  of  "  prince "  is 
exactly  two  and  a  half  cents. 

One  evening  we  drove  across  the  bridge  to  take 
tea  at  a  garden  on  the  "  Atkos,"  or  slope,  —  the 
crest  of  the  green  hill  on  which  stands  the  Kremlin. 
In  this  Atk6s  quarter  of  the  town  there  are  some 
really  fine  houses  of  wealthy  merchants,  mingkd 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  343 

with  the  curious  old  dwellings  of  the  merely  well-to- 
do  and  the  poor.  In  the  garden  the  tea  was  not  very 
good,  and  the  weedy-looking  chorus  of  women,  the 
inevitable  adjunct  to  every  eating  establishment  at 
the  Fair,  as  we  had  learned,  sang  wretchedly,  and 
were  rewarded  accordingly  when  one  of  their  number 
came  round  to  take  up  a  collection.  But  the  view! 
Far  below,  at  our  feet,  swept  broad  "  Matushka 
V61ga."  The  wharves  were  crowded  with  vessels. 
Steamers  and  great  barges  lay  anchored  in  the  stream 
in  battalions.  Though  the  activity  of  the  day  was 
practically  over,  tugs  and  small  boats  were  darting 
about  and  lending  life  to  the  scene.  We  were  on 
the  "  Hills"  side  of  the  river.  Far  away,  in  dreamy 
dimness,  lay  the  flat,  blue-green  line  of  the  "For- 
ests "  shore.  On  our  left  was  the  mouth  of  the  Okd, 
and  the  Fair  beyond,  which  seemed  to  be  swarming 
with  ants,  lay  flat  on  the  water  level.  The  setting 
sun  tinged  the  scene  with  pale  rose  and  amber  in  a 
mild  glow  for  a  while,  and  then  the  myriad  lights 
shone  out  from  the  city  and  river  with  even  more 
charming  effect. 

Our  next  visit  to  the  old  town  was  in  search  of  a 
writer  who  had  published  a  couple  of  volumes  of 
agreeable  sketches.  It  was  raining  hard,  so  we  en- 
gaged an  izvtistchik  who  was  the  fortunate  possessor 
of  an  antiquated  covered  carriage,  with  a  queer  little 
drapery  of  scarlet  cotton  curtains  hanging  from  the 
front  of  the  hood,  as  though  to  screen  the  modesty  of 
"  the  young  person  "  from  the  manners,  customs,  and 
sights  of  the  Fair, — about  which,  to  tell  the  truth, 
the  less  that  is  said  in  detail  the  better.  Certainly, 
more  queer,  old-fashioned  carriages  and  cabmen's 
costumes  are  to  be  seen  at  the  Fair  than  anywhere 


344  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

else  in  the  country.  As  we  were  about  to  enter  our 
antique  conveyance,  my  mother's  foot  caught  in  the 
braid  on  the  bottom  of  her  dress,  and  a  long  strip 
gave  way. 

"  I  must  go  upstairs  and  sew  this  on  before  we 
start,"  said  she,  reentering  the  hotel. 

The  izvtistchik  ran  after  us.  "  Let  me  sew  it  on, 
Your  High  Well-born,"  he  cried.  Seeing  our  surprise, 
he  added,  "  God  is  my  witness,  — yay  B6gu!  I  am  a 
tailor  by  trade." 

His  rent  and  faded  coat  did  not  seem  to  indicate 
anything  of  the  sort,  but  I  thought  I  would  try  him, 
as  I  happened  to  have  a  needleful  of  silk  and  a 
thimble  in  my  pocket.  I  gave  them  to  him  accord- 
ingly. He  knelt  down  and  sewed  on  the  braid  very 
neatly  and  strongly  in  no  time.  His  simple,  friendly 
manner  was  irresistibly  charming.  I  cannot  imagine 
accepting  such  an  offer  from  a  New  York  cabby,  — 
or  his  offering  to  do  such  a  job. 

When  we  reached  the  old  town,  I  asked  a  police- 
man where  to  find  my  author.  I  thought  he  might 
be  able  to  tell  me  at  once,  as  the  town  is  not  densely 
populated,  especially  with  authors ;  —  and  for  other 
reasons.  He  did  not  know. 

"  Then  where  is  the  police  office  or  the  address 
office  ? "  I  asked.  (There  is  no  such  thing  as  a 
directory  in  Russian  cities,  even  in  St.  Petersburg. 
But  there  is  an  address  office  where  the  names  and 
residences  on  passports  are  filed,  and  where  one  can 
obtain  the  address  wanted  by  paying  a  small  fee,  and 
filling  out  a  form.  But  he  must  know  the  baptismal 
name  and  the  patronymic  as  well  as  the  surname, 
and,  if  the  person  wanted  be  not  "  noble,"  his  pro- 
fession or  trade  in  addition  !) 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  345 

"  There  is  no  address  office,"  he  answered,  "  and 
the  police  office  is  closed.  It  is  after  four  o'clock. 
Besides,  if  it  were  open,  you  could  not  find  out  there. 
We  keep  no  record  here,  except  of  soldiers  and 
strangers." 

I  thought  the  man  was  jesting,  but  after  question- 
ing him  further,  I  was  forced  to  conclude  that  it 
might  be  true,  thought  it  certainly  was  amazing. 
As  the  author  in  question  had  been  sent  to  Siberia 
once  or  twice,  on  the  charge  of  complicity  in  some 
revolutionary  proceedings,  it  did  seem  as  though 
the  police  ought  to  be  able  to  give  his  address,  if 
Russia  meant  to  live  up  to  the  reputation  for  strict 
surveillance  of  every  soul  within  her  borders  which 
foreigners  have  kindly  bestowed  upon  her. 

As  a  house-to-house  visitation  was  impossible,  I 
abandoned  the  quest,  and  drove  to  a  photographer's 
to  buy  some  views  of  the  town.  The  photographer 
proved  to  be  a  chatty,  vivacious  man,  and  full  of 
information.  I  mentioned  my  dilemma  to  him.  He 
said  that  the  policeman  had  told  the  exact  truth,  but 
that  my  author,  to  his  positive  knowledge,  was  in  the 
Crimea,  "  looking  up  material."  Then  he  questioned 
me  as  to  what  we  had  seen  at  the  Fair,  mentioning 
one  or  two  places  of  evening  entertainment.  I  re- 
plied that  we  had  not  been  to  those  places.  I  had 
understood  that  they  were  not  likely  to  suit  my  taste. 
Had  I  been  rightly  informed,  or  ought  I  to  have 
gone  to  them  in  spite  of  warning  ? 

"  No,"  he  replied  frankly,  after  a  momentary 
hesitation,  "you  ought  not  to  see  them.  But  all 
the  American  women  do  go  to  them.  There  was  a 
party  here  last  year.  O-o-o-oh,  how  they  went  on  ! 
They  were  told,  as  you  have  been,  that  they  ought 


346  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

not  to  go  to  certain  places  ;  so  of  course  they  went, 
and  took  the  men  in  the  party  with  them,  —  which 
was  just  as  well.  I  'd  have  given  something  to  see 
their  faces  at  the  time,  or  even  afterwards  !  An 
Englishman,  who  had  traveled  everywhere,  and  had 
seen  everything,  told  me  that  nowhere,  even  in  India, 
had  he  seen  the  like  of  the  doings  at  this  Fair ;  and 
he  was  greatly  shocked."  He  added  that  an  officer 
could  not  appear  at  these  places  in  uniform. 

I  begged  the  photographer  to  remember  in  future 
that  there  were  several  sorts  of  American  women, 
and  that  not  all  of  them  worked  by  the  law  of  con- 
traries. In  my  own  mind  I  wondered  what  those 
particular  women  had  done,  and  wished,  for  the  hun- 
dredth time,  that  American  women  abroad  would 
behave  themselves  properly,  and  not  earn  such  a 
reputation  for  their  country-people. 

On  Sunday  we  went  to  the  Armenian  church,  to 
see  the  service  and  to  meet  some  Armenian  acquaint- 
ances. We  found  the  service  both  like  and  unlike 
the  Russian,  in  many  points  approaching  more  nearly 
to  the  Greek  form.  The  music  was  astonishing.  An 
undercurrent  of  sound,  alternating  between  a  few 
notes,  was  kept  up  throughout  the  service,  almost 
without  a  break.  At  times,  this  undercurrent  har- 
monized with  the  main  current  of  intoning  and 
chanting,  but  quite  as  often  the  discord  was  posi- 
tively distressing.  Perceiving  that  we  were  stran- 
gers, the  Armenians  showed  their  hospitality  in  an 
original  way.  First,  when  one  of  the  congregation 
went  forward  to  the  chancel  railing  and  received 
from  the  priest  the  triple  kiss  of  peace,  which  he  then 
proceeded  to  communicate  to  another  person,  who 
passed  it  on  in  dumb  show,  and  so  on  through  the 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  347 

whole  assembly,  neither  men  nor  women  would  run 
the  risk  of  offending  us  by  offering  the  simulated 
kiss.  Secondly,  and  more  peculiar,  besides  throw- 
ing light  on  their  motives  in  omitting  the  kiss,  they 
deliberately  passed  us  by  when  they  brought  round 
the  plate  for  the  collection  !  This  was  decidedly 
novel !  A  visit  to  the  Armenian  church  in  St.  Pe- 
tersburg convinced  us  that  the  discordant  music  was 
not  an  accident  due  to  bad  training,  but  deliberate 
and  habitual.  I  noticed  also  that  the  men  and 
women,  though  they  stood  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
church,  as  with  the  Russian  Old  Ritualists,  with  the 
women  on  the  left,  —  in  the  State  Church,  at  Court, 
the  women  stand  on  the  right,  —  they  crossed  them- 
selves from  left  to  right,  like  Roman  Catholics,  in- 
stead of  the  other  way  about,  as  do  the  Russians. 

As  we  were  exploring  the  Tatar  shops  at  noon,  we 
heard  the  muezzin  calling  to  prayer  from  the  mina- 
ret of  the  mosque  close  by,  and  we  set  off  to  attend 
the  service.  If  we  had  only  happened  to  have  on  our 
galoshes,  we  might  have  complied  with  .etiquette  by 
removing  them,  I  suppose,  and  could  have  entered  in 
our  shoes.  At  least,  the  Russian  policeman  said  so, 
and  that  is  very  nearly  what  the  Tatars  did.  They 
kicked  off  the  stiff  leather  slippers  in  which  they 
scuff  about,  and  entered  in  their  tall  boots,  with  the 
inset  of  frosted  green  pebbled  horsehide  in  the  heel, 
and  soft  soles,  like  socks.  As  it  was,  we  did  not 
care  to  try  the  experiment  of  removing  our  shoes, 
and  so  we  were  obliged  to  stand  in  the  vestibule, 
and  look  on  from  the  threshold.  Each  Tatar,  as  he 
entered,  pulled  out  the  end  of  his  turban,  and  let  it 
float  down  his  back.  Where  the  turban  came  from 
for  the  prayers,  I  do  not  know.  None  of  the  Tatars 


348  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

had  worn  a  turban  in  the  shops  from  which  they  had 
just  come  in  large  numbers,  abandoning  the  pressing 
engagements  of  the  busy  noontide.  Several  indi- 
viduals arrived  very  late,  and  decided  not  to  enter. 
All  of  these  late  corners,  one  after  the  other,  beck- 
oned me  mysteriously  out  of  sight  of  the  congrega- 
tion and  the  mollah,  and  whispered  eagerly :  - 

"How  do  you  like  it?" 

"  Very  much,"  I  answered  emphatically ;  where- 
upon they  exhibited  signs  of  delight  which  were  sur- 
prising in  such  grave  people,  and  even  made  a  motion 
to  kiss  my  hand. 

At  least,  that  is  what  the  motion  would  have 
meant  from  a  Russian.  Next  to  the  magnificent 
ceremonial  of  the  Russian  Church,  the  opposite  ex- 
treme, this  simplicity  of  the  congregational  Mussul- 
man worship  is  the  most  impressive  I  have  ever  seen. 

The  manner  of  our  departure  from  Nizhni  Novgo- 
rod was  characteristically  Russian,  —  but  not  by  our 
own  choice.  We  decided  to  go  on  up  the  Volga  by 
steamer,  see  the  river  and  a  few  of  the  towns,  and 
return  from  some  point,  by  rail,  to  Moscow. 

The  boat  was  advertised  to  start  from  the  wharf, 
in  the  old  town,  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening.  We 
went  aboard  in  good  season,  and  discovered  that 
there  were  but  three  first-class  staterooms,  the  best 
of  which  (the  only  good  one,  as  it  afterwards  ap- 
peared) had  been  captured  by  some  friends  of  the 
captain.  We  installed  ourselves  in  the  best  we 
could  get,  and  congratulated  eacli  other  when  the 
steamer  started  on  time.  We  had  hardly  finished 
the  congratulations  when  it  drew  up  at  another  wharf 
and  made  fast.  Then  it  was  explained  to  us  that  it 
was  to  load  at  this  wharf,  at  the  "  Siberian  Landing," 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  349 

a  point  on  the  Volga  shore  of  the  Fair  sand-spit, 
miles  nearer  our  hotel  than  the  one  to  which  we  had 
driven  through  torrents  of  rain.  We  were  to  make 
our  real  start  at  ten  o'clock  that  night !  The  cold 
was  piercing.  We  wrapped  ourselves  up  in  our 
wadded  cloaks  and  in  a  big  down  quilt  which  we 
had  with  us,  and  tried  to  sleep,  amid  the  deliberate 
bang-bang-bang  of  loading.  When  the  cargo  was  in 
we  slept.  When  we  woke  in  the  morning  we  began 
to  exchange  remarks,  being  still  in  that  half  coma- 
tose condition  which  follows  heavy  slumber. 

"  What  a  delightfully  easy  boat ! "  "  Who  would 
have  expected  such  smoothness  of  motion  from  such 
an  inferior-looking  old  craft  ?  "  "  It  must  be  very 
swift  to  have  no  motion  at  all  perceptible.  Where- 
abouts are  we,  and  how  much  have  we  missed?  " 

I  rose  and  raised  the  blind.  The  low  shore  oppo- 
site and  far  away,  the  sandy  islet  near  at  hand,  the 
river,  —  all  looked  suspiciously  like  what  our  eyes 
had  rested  upon  when  we  went  to  bed  the  night 
before.  We  would  not  believe  it  at  first,  but  it  was 
true,  that  we  had  not  moved  a  foot,  but  were  still 
tied  up  at  the  Siberian  Landing.  Thence  we  re- 
turned to  the  town  wharf,  no  apologies  or  explana- 
tions being  forthcoming  or  to  be  extracted,  whence 
we  made  a  final  start  at  about  nine  o'clock,  only  fif- 
teen hours  late !  And  the  company  professed  to  be 
"  American  "  ! 

Progress  up  the  river  was  slow.  The  cold  rain 
and  wind  prevented  our  availing  ourselves  of  the 
tiny  deck.  The  little  saloon  had  no  outlook,  being 
placed  in  the  middle  of  the  boat.  The  shores  and 
villages  were  not  of  striking  interest,  after  our  ac- 
quaintance with  the  lower  Volga.  For  hours  all  the 


350  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

other  passengers  (chiefly  second-class)  were  abed, 
apparently.  I  returned  to  my  cabin  to  kill  time 
with  reading,  and  presently  found  the  divan  and 
even  the  floor  and  partition  walls  becoming  intoler- 
ably hot,  and  exhaling  a  disagreeable  smell  of 
charred  wood.  I  set  out  on  a  tour  of  investigation. 
In  the  next  compartment  to  us,  which  had  the  out- 
ward appearance  of  a  stateroom,  but  was  inclosed  on 
the  outside  only  by  a  lattice-work,  was  the  smoke- 
pipe.  The  whistle  was  just  over  our  heads,  and  the 
pipe  almost  touched  the  partition  wall  of  our  cabin. 
That  partly  explained  the  deadly  chill  of  the  night 
before,  and  the  present  suffocating  heat.  I  descended 
to  the  lower  deck.  There  stood  the  engine,  almost 
as  rudimentary  as  a  parlor  stove,  in  full  sight  and 
directly  under  our  cabin  ;  also  close  to  the  wood- 
work. It  burned  wood,  and  at  every  station  the 
men  brought  a  supply  on  board;  the  sticks,  laid 
across  two  poles  in  primitive  but  adequate  fashion, 
being  deposited  by  the  simple  process  of  widening 
the  space  between  the  poles,  and  letting  the  wood 
fall  on  the  deck  with  a  noise  like  thunder.  The 
halts  and  "  wooding  up  "  seemed  especially  frequent 
at  night,  and  there  was  not  much  opportunity  for 
sleep  between  them.  Our  fear  of  being  burned  alive 
also  deprived  us  of  the  desire  to  sleep.  We  were 
nearly  roasted,  as  it  was,  and  had  to  go  out  on  the 
deck  in  the  wind  and  rain  at  short  intervals,  to  cool 
off. 

There  was  nothing  especially  worthy  of  note  at 
any  of  the  landings,  beyond  the  peculiar  windmills, 
except  at  Gorodetz,  which  is  renowned  for  the 
manufacture  of  spice-cakes,  so  the  guide-book  said. 
I  watched  anxiously  for  Gorodetz,  went  ashore,  and 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  351 

bought  the  biggest  "  spice-cake  "  I  could  find  from 
an  old  woman  on  the  wharf.  All  the  other  passen- 
gers landed  for  the  same  purpose,  and  the  old  woman 
did  a  rushing  business.  After  taking  a  couple  of 
mouthfuls,  I  decided  that  I  was  unable  to  appreciate 
the  merits  of  my  cake,  as  I  had  been,  after  repeated 
efforts,  to  appreciate  those  of  a  somewhat  similar 
concoction  known  under  the  name  of  "  Vyazemsky." 
So  I  gave  the  cake  to  the  grateful  stewardess,  and 
went  out  on  deck  to  look  at  a  ray  of  sunlight. 

"  Where  's  your  cake  ?  "  asked  a  stern  voice  at  my 
elbow.  The  speaker  was  a  man  with  long  hair  and 
beard,  dressed  like  a  peasant,  in  a  conical  fur  cap 
and  a  sheepskin  coat,  though  his  voice,  manner,  and 
general  appearance  showed  that  he  belonged  to  the 
higher  classes.  Perhaps  he  was  an  "  adept "  of  Count 
Tolst6y,  and  was  merely  masquerading  in  that  cos- 
tume, which  was  very  comfortable,  though  it  was 
only  September. 

"  I  gave  it  to  the  stewardess,"  I  answered  meekly, 
being  taken  by  surprise. 

"•  What !  Did  n't  you  eat  it  ?  Don't  you  know, 
madam,  that  these  spice-cakes  are  renowned  for  their 
qualities  all  over  Russia,  and  are  even  carried  to  the 
remotest  parts  of  Siberia  and  of  China,  also,  I  be- 
lieve, in  great  quantities?  [He  had  got  ahead  of 
the  guide-book  in  that  last  particular !]  Why  did  n't 
you  eat  it?" 

"  It  did  not  taste  good  ;  and  besides,  I  was  afraid 
of  indigestion.  It  seemed  never  to  have  been  cooked, 
unless  by  exposure  to  the  sun,  and  it  was  soggy  and 
heavy  as  lead.  You  know  there  has  been  a  great  deal 
of  rain  lately,  and  what  sun  we  have  even  now  is  very 
pule  and  weak,  hardly  adapted  to  baking  purposes." 


352  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

This  seemed  to  enrage  my  hairy  mentor,  and  he 
poured  out  a  volume  of  indignant  criticism,  reproach, 
and  ejaculations,  all  tangled  up  with  fragments  of 
cookery  receipts,  though  evidently  not  the  receipt 
for  the  Gorodetz  cakes,  which  is  a  secret.  The 
other  passengers  listened  in  amazement  and  delight. 
When  he  paused  for  breath,  I  remarked :  — 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  any  harm  in  having  bestowed 
such  a  delicate  luxury  on  the  poor  stewardess.  Did 
any  of  you  think  to  buy  a  cake  for  her  ?  And  why 
not  ?  I  denied  myself  to  give  her  pleasure.  Look 
at  it  in  that  light  for  a  while,  sir,  if  my  bad  taste 
offends  you.  And,  in  the  mean  while,  tell  me  what 
has  inspired  you  with  the  taste  to  dress  like  a  peas- 
ant ?  " 

That  settled  him,  and  he  retreated.  That  evening 
he  and  the  friend  with  whom  he  seemed  to  be  trav- 
eling talked  most  entertainingly  in  the  little  saloon, 
after  supper.  The  friend,  a  round,  rosy,  jolly  man, 
dressed  in  ordinary  European  clothes,  was  evidently 
proud  of  his  flow  of  language,  and  liked  to  hear  him- 
self talk.  Actors,  actresses,  and  theatres  in  Russia, 
from  the  middle  of  the  last  century  down  to  the 
present  day,  were  his  favorite  topic,  on  which  he  de- 
claimed with  appropriate  gestures  and  very  notice- 
able management  of  several  dimples  in  his  cheeks. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  he  considered  the  present  day 
degenerate,  and  lauded  the  old  times  and  dead  actors 
and  actresses  only.  It  seemed  that  the  longer  they 
had  been  dead,  the  higher  were  their  merits.  He 
talked  very  well,  also,  about  books  and  social  con- 
ditions. 

The  progress  of  the  weak-kneed  steamer  against 
wind  and  current  was  very  slow  and  uncertain,  and 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  353 

we  never  knew  when  we  should  reach  any  given 
point.  Even  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  were  not  so 
exciting  or  important  in  nature  as  they  used  to  look 
to  me  when  I  studied  geography.  I  imparted  to  the 
captain  my  opinion  that  his  engine  was  no  better 
than  a  samovar.  He  tried  hard  to  be  angry,  but  a 
glance  at  that  ridiculous  machine  convinced  him  of 
the  justice  of  my  comparison,  and  he  broke  into  a 
laugh. 

We  left  the  steamer  at  Yaroslavl  (it  was  bound  for 
Rybinsk),  two  hundred  and  forty-one  miles  above 
Nizlmi-N<5vgorod,  and  got  our  first  view  of  the  town 
at  daybreak.  It  stands  on  the  high  west  bank  of 
the  river,  but  is  not  so  picturesque  as  Nizhni.  Ac- 
cess to  the  town  is  had  only  through  half  a  dozen 
cuts  and  ravines,  as  at  Nizhni ;  and  what  a  singular 
town  it  is  !  With  only  a  little  over  thirty  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  it  has  seventy-seven  churches,  be- 
sides monasteries  and  other  ecclesiastical  buildings. 
There  are  streets  which  seem  to  be  made  up  chiefly 
of  churches,  —  churches  of  all  sizes  and  colors, 
crowned  with  beautiful  and  fantastic  domes,  which, 
in  turn,  are  surmounted  by  crosses  of  the  most 
charming  and  original  designs. 

Yaroslavl,  founded  in  1030,  claims  the  honor  of 
having  had  the  first  Russian  theatre,  and  to  have 
sheltered  Biron,  the  favorite  of  the  Empress  Anna 
loannovna  (a  doubtful  honor  this),  with  his  family, 
during  nineteen  years  of  exile.  But  its  architectural 
hints  and  revelations  of  ancient  fashions,  forms,  and 
customs,  are  its  chief  glory,  not  to  be  obscured  even 
by  its  modern  renown  for  linen  woven  by  hand  and 
by  machinery.  For  a  person  who  really  understands 
Russian  architecture,  —  not  the  architecture  of  St. 


354  THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR. 

Petersburg,  which  is  chiefly  the  invention  of  for- 
eigners,—  Yaroslavl  and  other  places  on  the  north- 
ern Volga  in  this  neighborhood,  widely  construed, 
are  mines  of  information  and  delight.  However,  as 
there  are  no  books  wherewith  a  foreigner  can  inform 
himself  on  this  subject,  any  attempt  at  details  would 
not  only  seem  pedantic,  but  would  be  incomprehen- 
sible without  tiresome  explanations  and  many  illus- 
trations, which  are  not  possible  here.  I  may  remark, 
however,  that  Viollet-le-Duc  and  Fergusson  do  not 
understand  the  subject  of  Russian  architecture,  and 
that  their  few  observations  on  the  matter  are  nearly 
all  as  erroneous  as  they  well  can  be.  I  believe  that 
very  few  Russians  even  know  much  scientifically 
about  the  development  of  their  national  architecture 
from  the  Byzantine  style.  Yaroslavl  is  a  good  place 
to  study  it,  and  has  given  its  name  to  one  epoch  of 
that  development. 

With  the  exception  of  the  churches,  Yaroslavl  has 
not  much  to  show  to  the  visitor ;  but  the  bazaar  was 
a  delight  to  us,  with  its  queer  pottery,  its  baskets  for 
moulding  bread,  its  bread-trays  for  washtubs,  and  a 
dozen  other  things  in  demand  by  the  peasants  as  to 
which  we  had  to  ask  explanations. 

Breezy,  picturesque  Yaroslavl,  with  its  dainty,  in- 
dependent cabbies,  who  object  to  the  mud  which 
must  have  been  their  portion  all  their  lives,  and 
reject  rare  customers  rather  than  drive  through  it ; 
with  its  churches  never  to  be  forgotten ;  its  view  of 
the  Volga,  and  its  typical  Russian  features  !  It  was 
a  fitting  end  to  our  Volga  trip,  and  fully  repaid  us 
for  our  hot-cold  voyage  with  the  samovdr  steamer 
against  the  stream,  though  I  had  not  believed,  during 
the  voyage,  that  anything  could  make  up  for  the 


THE  NIZHNI  NOVGOROD  FAIR.  355 

tedium.  If  I  were  to  visit  it  again,  I  would  approach 
it  from  the  railway  side  and  leave  it  to  descend  the 
river.  But  I  would  not  advise  any  foreigner  to  tackle 
it  at  all,  unless  he  be  as  well  prepared  as  we  were 
to  appreciate  its  remarkable  merits  in  certain  direc- 
tions. 

A  night's  journey  landed  us  in  Moscow.  But 
even  the  glories  of  Moscow  cannot  make  us  forget 
the  city  of  Yarosldff  the  Great  and  Nizhni  Novgorod. 


INDEX. 


ABBESS,  321,  325. 
Abraham,  225. 
Abuse,  vi. 

Acacia,  116,  157,  255. 
Academy,  208,  209. 
Acrobat,  194. 
Actor,  162,  352. 
Adam,  118. 
Address,  10,  344,  345. 
Address  tickets,  13. 
Adept,  179,  181,  351. 
Admiral,  245,  330. 
Admiralty,  52, 54-56,  59,  102. 
Advertisement,  68. 
Africa,  vii. 
Aisle,  v,  vi. 
Albumen,  299. 

Alexander,  Prince,  2,  22,  23,  30. 
Alexander  I.,  27,  32,  55,  58. 
Alexander  II.,  101,  109,  307. 
Alexander  III.,  91. 
Alexandra,  2G6,  267. 
Alexandra  Square,  33. 
Alexandra  Theatre,  33. 
Alexei,  52,  157,  190. 
Allah,  238. 
Almond,  301. 
Alphabet,  6. 
Altar,  230. 
Ambassador,  95. 
Amber,  272,  278,  330. 
America,  v,  vi.  37,  44,  61,  65,  66,  76,  78 
^8£'.89'12^142',146,161,1C''78' 


Amerikanskiya  zhiteli,  37. 

Amethysts,  342. 

Anaemia,  306. 

Ananias,  15. 

Andrei,  108. 

Angel,  193,  213,  224. 

Anitchkoff,  27.     See  also  Palace. 

Anna,  27,  53,  353.     See  also  Empress. 

Anna  Karelin,  160,  163. 

Annushka,  259. 

Anointment,  51,  227. 

Anteroom,  268 

Anthill,  259. 

Antony.     See  St.  Antdny. 

Apostle,  274,  276,  280      ' 

Apples,  114,  280,  291. 

Apron,  123,  187,  189,  269. 


Apse,  223,  230. 

Arch,  29,  252,  273. 

Architecture,  30,  52,  55,  83,210,  291,  333, 

oo3j  354. 
Arctic,  38,  316. 
Argot,  Madame,  20. 
Ariadne,  118. 
Arkhangel,  38,  126. 
Armenian,  43,  330,  331,  346,  347. 
Army,  138,  177,  178,  272,  319,  334. 
Armyak,  47,  237,  273. 
Arrivers,  103,  207. 
Artel,  29. 
Artist,  94,  06,  224. 
Artistic  Circle,  94,  98. 
Asia,  44,  252,  284. 
Assumption,  210,  214,  216,  218,  220,  222, 

so^'khan'  118>  235>  241»  275,  277,  281, 

286,291,330,331,333. 
Asylum,  318,  319. 
Athos,  Mount,  221,  320,  322. 
Atkos,  342. 
Atlantic,  220. 
Author,  180,  186,  345. 
Autograph  album,  323,  324. 
Autumn,  86. 

Avenue,  157,  166,  167,  190,  191. 
Avos,  na,  150,  260.     See  also  Luck. 
Axe,  270. 


Balagani,  56. 

Balakhin,  186. 

Balalaika,  190,  192. 

Balcony,  92,  211. 

Balkan,  45,  312. 

Ballou,  Adin,  16. 

Balls,  59,  161,  162,  293,  336. 

Bank,  7,  54,  72. 

Banquet,  229. 

Baptism,  51.  57,  213,  285. 

Baptizing,  160,  230,  231,  233. 

Barclay  de  Tolly,  50. 

Bargaining,  77,  88,  109,  189,  239,  248. 

Barge,  332,  343. 

Bark,  85,  257,  270,  278,  282,  288. 

Barometer,  265. 

Baron,  7. 

Barracks,  120. 

Barrel,  248. 


358 


INDEX. 


Barrow,  31. 

Barynya,  83,  109,  110. 

Bar^uya-Sudarynya,  192. 

Bashkir,  266,  292,  304. 

Bashlyk,  36,  44,  46. 

Basin,  295,  339. 

Basket,  260,  354. 

Basses,  230. 

Bast,  207,  284. 

Bathing,  158,  167-169,  266-269,  286,  295, 

319. 

Batiushka,  145,  228. 
Battle,  51. 

Bazaar,  354.     See  Gostinny  Dvor. 
Beach,  278. 
Beads,  188,  301,  330. 
Bear,  262,  263. 
Bed,  55,  104,  189,  218,  269,  274,  294,  307, 

334. 

Bee,  262. 
Beef,  106. 

Beelsteak,  296,  297,  307. 
Beer,  220. 

Beggars,  51,  131,  134,  152,  185,  204,  205. 
Belfry,  229,  232. 
Believers,  Old,  134,  138,  146. 
Bell,  59,  92,  104,  120,  209,  219,  220,  252. 
Bell,  glass,  225,  227. 
Belt,  150. 

Bench,  168,  189,  219,  220,  247,  269,  337. 
Beregis,  46. 
Berlin,  1,  5,  62,  127. 
Berostovo,  221. 

Berries,  126,  129.     See  Currants,  etc. 
Betrothal,  188. 
Bicycles,  142. 
Birch,  31,  85,  116,  117,  131,  167,  203,  205, 

220,  221,  251,  261,  267,  268. 
Bird-cage,  127,  257. 
Birmingham,  152. 
Biron,  353. 
Bishop,  342. 
Black  beads,  188. 
Black  beetle,  2f,l. 
Blackberries,  276. 
Black  bread.     See  Bread. 
Biack  cock,  261. 
Blaok  earth,   167,   203,    235,   252.      See 

Tcliernozyom. 
Bliok  Forest,  261,  293. 
Black  Sea,  44. 

Blessing,  211,  221,  228,  321,  326,  341. 
Blinders,  vii. 

Blouse,  122,  133.  158,  181. 
Boat,  30,  55,  118,  232,  247,  274,  275,  276, 

278,  281,  349. 

Boatmen,  30,  275,  276,  279-282. 
Bodies,  225. 

Bog  v  pomozh,  252.     See  God. 
Bogatjrri,  225. 
Bokhara,  339. 
Bokhariots,  341,  342. 
Bolshaya  Morskaya,  49. 
Bonfire,  192. 
Booby,  Mrs.,  311,  312. 
Book,  v,  61,  66,  67,  70,  74,  195,  196,  199, 

214,  323,  324,  352. 


Booklet,  15. 

Bookstore,  63. 

Boots,  39,  41,  104,  107,  133,  137,  140,  14L 

143,  180,  223,  237,  239,  242,  280,  301. 
Boston,  65,  76. 

Bottle,  301,  302,  304,  305,  307,  318. 
Bottle-imps,  37. 
Botvinya,  297,  298. 
Bouillon,  144. 
Boulevard,  316,  317. 
Bowl,  269. 
Bracelets,  301. 
Brags,  234. 
Braid,  344. 
Brain,  306. 
Bread,  30,  55,  118,  126,  135,  167, 187,  193, 

215,  218,  220,  240,  241,  247,  263,  268, 

282,  298,  308,  318,  354. 
Bread-trays,  354. 
Breakfast,   125,  168,  217,  275,  282,  296, 

297,  336. 
Brick,  84, 189,  203,  204,  207,  229, 255,  291, 

292,  333,  337. 
Bride,  50,  51, 162. 
Bridge,  25,  54,  57,   118,   150,  234,   254, 

Brigands,  279. 

Brocade,  339. 

Brothers,  281. 

Buckwheat,  31,  169,  218,  220,  251,  308. 

Building,  25. 

Buntchuk,  120. 

Burlaki,  228. 

Butcher,  106,  236. 

Butler,  187,  191,  263,  273,  278. 

Butter,  176,  273. 

Butter  mushroom,  261. 

Buttercups,  119. 

Butterflies,  47. 

Buttons,  47. 

Byeloselsky-Byeloze'rsky,  27. 

Byzantine,  51,  210,  354. 

Byzantium,  205. 

Cabbage,  297,  318,  333. 

Cake,  52,    352.     See  also  Spice -cakes; 

Vyazemsky. 
Camel's  hair,  232. 
Camp,  276,  277. 
Campanula,  154. 
Campions,  119. 
Canal,  26,  50,  52,  337,  338. 
Candelabra,  215. 
Candle,  39,  40,  51,  107,  116,  129,  215,  226, 

320,  325. 

Cantaloupes,  291,  332. 
Canterbury  bells,  154. 
Cap,  15,  44,  45,  47,  48,  88,  135,  275,  276, 

300. 

Capital,  280. 
Cargo,  349. 
Caricature,  62. 
Carnival,  56. 
Carpenter,  260. 
Carpet,  85. 

.  Carriage,  46,  58,  86,  93,  98,  142,  250,  253, 
I     271,  272,  317,  320,  343. 


INDEX. 


359 


Cars,  horse,  25,  40,  93,  142. 

Cars,  steam,  25. 

Cart,  125,  l'J7,  248,  257,  283,  284,  286. 

Carter,  237. 

Cart  whtvls,  241,  318. 

L'a.-s(  in,  301,  304. 

Caspian,  279. 

Cassock,  213. 

Catacombs,  208,  213,  220-224,  226,  228. 

Catarrh,  305. 

Catechism,  224. 

C.uhrdral,  13<J,  210,  213, 214, 219, 220,  223, 

22S,  251,32(1,  328,  338. 
Cat  ill',  244,  21)2,  270. 
Caiu-asians,  341,  342. 
Caucasus,  35,  44,  253. 
Cavalry,  120,  265. 
Cave,  221,  222. 
Cavern,  226,  227. 

Caviare,  38,  61,  64,  65,  70,  71,  73,  74. 
Cells,  212,  219,  221,  222,  227,  247. 
Cemetery,  23,  42. 
Censor,  34-61. 
Censorship,  12. 
Century,  G2,  63,  66,  69-72. 
Chain,  48,  273. 
Chalice,  215. 
Chalk,  273,  282. 

Chambermaid,  104,  107,  294,  335. 
Champagne,  336. 
Chancellery,  32. 
Chanting,  230. 
Chapel,  38,  111,  244,  320. 
Chasseur,  49,  95. 
Cheese,  177. 
Chemise,  188,  269. 
Cherries,  114,  129. 
Chicken,  vii,  213,  240,  248,  249,  268. 
Children,  117,  121,  127,  155, 163,  171, 180, 

190,  199,  252,  257,  258,  319. 
Chimney,  292. 
China,  351. 

China  Town,  143,  314,  320,  321. 
Chinese,  118,  337. 
Chintz,  340. 
Chocolate,  306. 

Choir,  v,  32,  51,  57,  122,  124,  230,  258. 
Chopping-tray,  269. 
Choral  dances,  190. 
Choral  songs,  255. 
Chorus,  335,  343. 
Chrism,  225,  227,  228. 
Christ,  40,  51,  57,  178,  180,  229. 
Christian,  216,  228,  258,  328. 
Christmas,  36,  63,  84,  140,  146. 
Chromo-lithography,  211. 
Church,  v,  vi,  25,  43,  47,  51,  59,  75,  89, 


102,  115,  130,   151,176,   177,205,  209, !  Courier,  14. 


Clay,  292. 

Jlean,  2'JO. 

Cleartield,  157.    See  Ydsnaya  Polydna. 

Clerk,  104,  207. 

Cliff,  207,  226,  300. 

Cloak,  15,  87,  137,  349. 

Cloth,  42,  87,  118,  254,  273. 

Clothes,  108,  231-234,  269. 

Clothes,  old,  236,  340. 

Cloudfall,  234. 

Club,  53. 

Coachman,  46,  48,  59,  93,  248,  254,  271, 

Coal,  85. 

Coat,  118,  171,  269,  324. 

Coat  of  arms,  209,  320. 

Cobbler,  148. 

Cobblestones,  316. 

Codfish,  38.  126. 

Coffee,  167;  259,  295,  296,  298,  306.  334. 

Coffin,  43,  90,  130,  131,  225,  326. 

Coins,  301. 

Cold,  87,  104,  243,  316,  349,  350. 

Colic,  305. 

Collection.  347. 

Colonel,  327,  342. 

Colonists,  310. 

Colt,  301,  302. 

Columbine,  119. 

Comedies,  ix,  311. 

Commune,  255,  260,  270. 

Communion,  215,  258,  329. 

Community,  161,  196. 

Confirmation,  51. 

Conflagration,  217.     See  Fire. 

Constantinople,  217. 

Constipation,  305. 

Contract,  207,  256,  338. 

Convent,  41.  233,  320,  324,  325. 

Conversion,  233. 

Convolvulus,  251. 

Cook,  278. 

Cook-book,  277. 

Cookery,  352. 

Cooking,  126,  189,  215,  261,  268,  277,  278, 

322. 

Cornflower,  251. 

Costumes,  112,  118,  284,  335,  340. 
Cottage,  123,  125,  166,  187,  189,  190,  196, 

197,  203,  204,  248,  254,  268,  279,  285, 

286,  292,  293. 
Cotton,  41,  84, 104,  188,  241-243,  256,  275, 

284,  343. 

Councils,  (Ecumenical,  151. 
Counselor,  272. 
Count,  272.     See  Tolstdy. 
Countess,  vi.     See  Tolstdy. 


213,  215,  219,  221,  224,  227,  228, 230-234, 
244,  254,  258,  285,  296,  314,  317,  324- 
329,  333,  346-348,  353,  354. 

Churning,  303,  304. 

Cigarette,  119,  313,  314,  331. 

Cipher,  252. 

City  Council,  40. 

City  Hall,  38,  40. 

Civilization,  183,  191,  195. 


Court,  23,  26,  30,  42,  45,  57,  59,  92,  103, 

117,  210,  211,  315,  347. 
Courtyard,  125,  248,  283. 
Coverlets,  104. 

Cow,  123,  128,  156,  257,  265,  306. 
Cracknel,  36. 
Cradle,  126,  226,  257. 
Cranberry,  x. 
Crash,  257,  268,  269,  2S4. 


360 


INDEX. 


Crayfish,  268,  274,  298. 

Crazy,  146,  186. 

Cream,  52,  149,  241,  274,  301,  306. 

Creed,  235. 

Crimea,  95,  345. 

Criminals,  x. 

Cross,  39,  57,  58,  131,  171,  174,  175,  205, 

210,  216,  227,  228,  232,  244,  254,  269, 

278,  317,  321,  325,  327,  333,  342,  347, 

353. 

Crowd,  58. 
Crowned,  323. 
Crown  lands,  262. 
Crown  official,  130. 
Crown  serfs,  129. 
Cry,  319. 
Cucumbers,  31,  114,  126,  241,  255,  262, 

298. 

Cuirassier,  119. 
Cup  and  ball,  210. 
Cupola,  118,  210.     See  Dome. 
Curds,  263. 
Currants,  110. 
Custom-House,  xi,  1. 

Dahlia,  286.   . 

Daisies,  154. 

Dam,  237,  238. 

Damp.     See  Mother  Earth  ;  Oak. 

Dance,  119,  120,  190,  191,  192,  255. 

Darkness.  Power  of.     See  Power. 

Dashboard,  48. 

Dashkoff,  Princess,  33. 

Datcha,  27.     See  Villa. 

Daughter,  157,  163,  190. 

Deacon,  79,  213,  321. 

Death,  x,  192,  214,  224,  230. 

Debility,  306. 

Decembrists,  176. 

Delaware,  59. 

Delta,  60. 

Democratic,  280,  281. 

Devil,  224. 

Dialect,  233. 

Diamonds,  14,  18,  217. 

Diarrhoea,  305. 

Dickens,  173. 

Dictionary,  240. 

Diet,  304.    See  Vegetable. 

Digestive,  306. 

Dining,  158,  219. 

Dining-room,  104,  166,  290,  335,  336. 

Dinner,  168. 

Diplomatic,  63. 

Directory,  10. 

Disciple,  179,  180,  182,  197. 

Diuk  Stepanovitch,  234. 

Dny^pr,  205,  223,  226,  227,  234. 

Doctor,  197,  305. 

Doctrine,  161,  179,  197,  199,  201,  202. 

Documents,  13,  68,  69,  323. 

Dog,  111.    See  also  Milliner;  Milton; 

Officials;  Tulip. 
Doge,  339. 

Dollar,  12,  83,  250,  292. 
Dome,  28,  205,  210,  228,  229,  241,  311, 

317,  333,  353. 


Dominique,  42. 
Domna,  128,  130. 
Domovoi,  29,  266,  267. 
Dostoevsky,  173. 
Dough,  194. 
Dove,  133. 
Dowries,  120. 
Drain,  222. 
Drainage,  338. 
Drama,  33. 
Dram-shop,  260. 
Dressing-gown,  339. 
Driving,  273. 
Drozhky,  48,  243. 
Ducks,  240,  247. 
Duenna,  336. 
Dumas,  Alexander,  x. 
Dust,  237,  238. 
Dutch,  26,  43. 
Dvornik,  11,  15,  40,  60,  85. 
Dyspepsia,  146. 

Earth  Town,  316. 

Earthquakes,  222. 

East,  339. 

Easter,  35,  50-52,  92,  116,  234. 

Edinburgh,  Duchess  of,  123. 

Edition,  200. 

Eggs,  37,   109,  110,   113,  133,  169,  177, 

241,  248. 

Ekaterinburg,  342. 
Ekaterinoslaff ,  180. 
Elder,  255. 
Electric,  46,  246. 
Elevators,  43. 
Elijah.     See  St.  Eva. 
Elizabeth,  Empress,  23,  31,  32,  53,  57. 
Elizaveta  Petrovna.     See  Elizabeth,  Em- 

Sress. 
i,250. 

Elsmere,  Robert,  193. 
Emancipation,  108,  280. 
Embroidered,  243,  284. 
Embroiderer,  162. 
Embroidery,  341. 
Emperor,  15,  24,  27,  37,  47,  49,  50,  57, 

58,  91,  92,  97-99,  155,   177,   186,  223, 

272. 

Empress,  45,  50,  56,  98,  102,  127,  353. 
Engine,  48. 
England,  224. 
English,  viii,  ix,  63,  66,  71,  161,  172,  183, 

185,  204,  329,  346. 
Epic  songs,  225,  234,  317. 
Epilepsy,  306. 
Epiphany,  57,  92. 
Equal,  156. 
Equality,  190. 
Erysipelas,  197. 
Estate,  162,  186,  196,  235,  243,  252,  253, 

256,  270,  309. 
Etiquette,  211,  334. 
Europe,  206, 218,  235,  254,  339,  352. 
Ev6?  118. 
Ewer,  339. 
Exposition,  337. 
Eyes,  vii. 


INDEX. 


361 


Fables,  viii. 

Fahrenheit.  110,234. 

Fair,  3C>,  •_':•.">.  240,  244,  330-349. 

Famine,  235,308-310. 

Farm,  102,  161,  189,  300. 

Farmyard,  268. 

Fashion,  47. 

Fast,  115,218,273. 

Fat,  272,  276,  278,  299,  304,  305. 

Fattier  Treasurer,  212. 

Fedosy.     See  St.  Fed6sy. 

Fees,  4,  10,  12, 18,  68,  69. 

Feet,  45,  286. 

Felt,  141,  239,  274,  279,  280. 

Fergusson,  354. 

Ferment,  303, 304. 

Ferry,  56. 

Festival,  115,  130. 

Fez,  242. 

Field,  157,  159,  198,  252,  256,  257,  265, 

283. 

Finland,  26,  37,  51,  58,  59,  112. 
Finnish,  22,  92,  101,  252. 
Fir,  341. 

Fire,  40,  48,  85,  128,  222,  269,  338. 
Firearms  factory,  151. 
Fish,  30,  38,  44,  218,  241,  271,  277,  278, 

306,  333,  340. 
Fisherman,  274-281. 
Flags,  51,  278. 
Flame,  60,  85, 128,  225. 
Flat,  154. 
Flea-catcher,  105. 
Fleas,  105. 
Floods,  237. 
Floors,  85,  104,  334. 
Flora,  118. 

Flounce,  191,258,300. 
Flour,  237. 
Flowers,  123,  131, 154,  166,  251,  295,  339. 

See  also  Acacia;  Forget-me-not ;  Lilac  / 

etc. 

Folk-songs,  275,  279,  281. 
Fomitch,  191. 
Fontanka,  26,  29. 
Forbidden  books,  182. 
Forest,  113,  167,  176,  192,  203,  220,  221, 

244,  252,  261-263,  265,  292,  293. 
Forester,  263. 
Forget-me-not,  119. 
Fork,  193. 

Fortress,  Peter-Paul,  24,  51. 
Foundling,  318,  319. 
Fox,  48,  50,  87. 
France,  223. 

French,  76,  124,  161,  183,  204,  207,  218. 
Fresco,  209,  210,  213,  214,  224,  229,  230. 
Frontier,  xi,  2. 
Fruit,  109,  164,  195,  219,  262,  291,  306, 

307,336. 
Fuel,  31,  203. 

Funeral,  24,  42,  43,  93,  98,  104, 131,  341. 
Fur,  15,  35,  48,  50,  84,  86,  87,   90,   99, 

112. 
Furniture,  103,  167,  269,  294. 

Gabgot,  6. 


Gadflies,  262. 

Gall  urn,  154. 

Gallantry  wares,  111. 

Gallery,  v,  213,  215,  223,  229,  341. 

Gallows,  x. 

allstones,  306. 
Galoshes,  45,  96,  137,  347. 
Galubtchik,  132. 
Game,  124,  210,  262. 
Gangrene,  137. 
Gapgod,  6. 
Garden,  123,  129,  212,  232,  254.  255,  280, 

286,  315,  316,  342,  343. 
Garden,  Fish,  30,  115. 
Garden,  Summer,  26,  54,  57,  121. 
Garden  Street,  Great,  34. 
Gardeners,  124. 
Gas,  323. 

Gate,  157,  251,  270,  320,  325. 
Gate,  Imperial,  214,  217. 
Gatschina,  101. 

Gendarmes,  xi,  2,  91,  94,  96-99. 
General,  58,  91. 
Geneva,  75. 
Genrut,  9. 
Gentian,  264. 
Gentleman,  205. 
Geography,  224,  311,  353. 
George.     See  St.  George. 
George  Eliot,  173. 
George  Sand,  173. 
Gepgud,  6. 
German,  viii,  8,  15,  16,  53,  85,  127,  149, 

335. 

Germany,  68,  127,  223. 
Giant  Steps,  124,  190. 
Gingham,  340. 
Girdle,  47,  257,  273. 
Glass,  84,  225,  247. 
Goat,  36,  87. 

God,  ix,  127,  249,  252,  260,  327,  344. 
Godchild,  232. 
Godfather,  232. 
Godmother,  231,  232. 
Gogol,  208. 
Goldenrod,  264. 
Goods,  336. 
Gooseberries,  114. 
Gorode-tz,  350,  352. 
Gostinnitza,  103. 
Gostinny  Dvor,  35,    38,  102,  111,  337, 

338. 

Gourmet,  278. 
Government,  ix. 
Governor,  238,  333,  337. 
Gradskaya  Duma,  40. 
Grain,  251,  252, 256,  258,  265,  283,  308. 
Grainfield,  235,  273,  282. 
Grammar,  239. 
Granary,  235,  270. 
Grand  Duchess,  94.  98,  124. 
Grand  Duke,  43,  46,  124. 
Grand  Prince,  222,  229. 
Granite,  26,  27,  51,59. 
Grapes,  59,  114,  291,  333. 
Grave,  184,  185. 
Graveyard,  131.    See  also  Cemetery. 


362 


INDEX. 


Greece,  124. 

Greek,  75,  209,  346. 

Greek  patriarchs,  138. 

Greenland,  41. 

Gresser,  General,  4, 48,  93. 

Grilled,  276,  278. 

Grove,  255. 

Guard,  324,  330. 

Guards,  58,  94,  98,  99,  117,  121,  211. 

Guest,  35,  92. 

Guide-book,  150,  350,  351. 

Guides,  viii,  14,  226,  227. 

Guillotine,  183. 

Guitar,  190,  272. 

Gull,  244. 

Gymnasia,  122. 

Gymnastic,  121,  122. 

Haggard,  Rider,  171. 

Hair,  41,  188,  211,  214,  215,  226,  256,  266, 

286,  300,  318,  321. 
Hall,  166. 

Hall  porter.     See  Swiss. 
Halter,  278. 
Ham,  298. 

Handkerchief,  39,  112. 
Happiness,  192. 
Hare,  262. 
Harebell,  264. 

Harness,  48,  100,  248,  250,  252. 
Harvest,  182,  217,  251,  256,  273,  308-309, 

310. 

Hat,  44,  211,  252,  273. 
Hay,  250,  255. 
Hayfield,  164,  168,  244. 
Haying,  235,  256. 
Haymarket,  38. 
Health,  216. 
Heart,  306,  311,  326. 
Heat,  251,  252,  253,  305,  350. 
Heaven,  ix,  127,  192,  322. 
Hedge,  255. 
Helmsman,  243. 
Hemp,  254,  274. 
Hercules,  117. 
Heretic,  322. 

Heroes,  225,  234.     See  Bogatyri.. 
Hetman.     See  Mazeppa. 
Hill,  221,  244,  251,  273,  300,  318,  333, 

343. 

Hive,  262. 

Holy  City,  203,  206,  234,  326,  327. 
Holy  Gate,  209. 
Holy  Ghost,  25. 
Holy  Mother,  311. 
Holy  Russia,  90,  311,  326. 
Holy  war,  238. 
Holy  water,  321. 
Homespun,  215. 
Honey,  115,  262. 
Hopedale,  161. 
Horn,  257. 
Horse, 


60,  82,  83,  99,  106,  142, 
150,  156,  169,  204,   236,   237,  247-249, 
250,  262,  264-266,  273,   281,  283,  316, 
320-322,  347. 
Horse-cars,  25,  316. 


Horseflesh,  106,  297. 

Horseradish,  298. 

Horse-thieves,  270. 

Hospodi  pomilui,  238. 

Hosudar,  95. 

Hotel,  77,  101,  103,  141,  151,  206,  207, 

232,  271,  293,  295,  329,  334. 
Hours,  329. 

House,  25,  84,  312,  313. 
House-sprite,  29. 
Howells,  Mr.,  174. 
Hungary,  224. 
Hussars,  117,  119. 

Ice,  28,  57,  269. 

Ideal,  192. 

Ikona,  39,  51,   128,  220,  224,  225,  232, 

325,  341.     See  also  Image. 
Ikonostas,  51,  209,  215,  219. 
Ilarion,  221 ,  226. 
Ilya  of  Murom,  225,  234. 
Image,  35,  39,  51,  126,  189,  209,  217,  223, 

230,  232,  251 , 269.     See  Ikdna. 
Imperial  sceptre,  205. 
Incendiaries,  270. 
Incorruptible,  225. 
Incubator,  318. 
India,  346. 
Infections,  206. 
Inferiors,  281. 
Influence,  270,  323,  325. 
Ingermaunland,  132. 
Ink,  62. 
Inn,  217-219. 
Insect,  197. 
Institution,  318,  328. 
Intoning,  230. 
Inundation,  26,  51. 
Invasion,  French,  217. 
Invitation,  68. 
Irish,  313. 
Iron,  244,  340. 
Ironclad,  93. 
Ironing,  269. 

Isaac,  232.    See  also  St.  Isaac. 
Iskra,  219. 
Islands,  42,  60. 
Italian,  27. 
Ivan,  80,  169,  216. 
Ivan  the  Terrible,  vii,  52. 
Ivan  VI.,  53. 
Iversky,  320,  321. 
Izba.     See  Cottage. 
Izvostchik,   46,  48,  60,  82,  95,  99,   127, 

152,   154,  181,  190,  237,  291,  311,  312, 

314,  318,  321,  322,  343,  344. 

Jacob's  ladder,  ix,  272. 
Jealousy,  188. 
Jerusalem,  219. 
Jew,  179,  230-233,  330. 
Jewels,  51. 
Jewess,  231. 
Johnny,  46. 
Jordan,  the,  57,  59,  92. 
Judge,  342. 
Jupiter,  190. 


INDEX. 


363 


Kaftan,  14.",  237. 

K.ilumvk,  -J'.t2. 
K.naa,  '-'It. 
Kami>euhausen,  27. 

Kailir:il-00,  194. 

K-iri  Ivanovitch,  160. 

Kitlit'i-inel.,  102. 

Kath.-rine  II.,   24,   31-33,    58,    102,    119, 

318,  320. 

Katlierine  Institute,  27. 
Kiitiusha,  108,  132. 

Kii/sik,  31,  49,  52,  88,  91,  138,  209,  266. 
K.I/ MI,  5,  47,  51,  235-237,  239,  241,  250, 

271,301,331,332,340. 
K.'iman,  Mr.,  62. 
Kerchief,  112,  144,  168,  188-190,  216,  242, 

266. 

Keys,  51. 
Khalat,  339. 
Kliarashc),  247. 
Kholstomir,  150. 
Kiiikhta,  338,  340. 
Kieff,  154,  203-234. 
Kievlyanin,  224. 
Kirghiz,  304. 
Kisel,  318. 

Kiss  of  peace,  346,  347. 
Kissing,  211,  212,  227,  228. 
Kittens,  277. 
Kladderadatsch,  62. 
Kliukva,  x. 
Klobiik,  39,  211,  213. 
Klodt,  Baron,  25. 
Klubnika,  113,  306. 
Knife,  215. 

Kokoshnik,  45,  121,  318. 
Kolomna,  227. 
Kopek,  4,  10,  17,  18,  29,  69,  72,  81,  110, 

134,  135,  140,  143,  145,  153,  204,  243, 

326,  342. 
Kotchubey,  219. 
Kovsh,  39. 
Krasnoe  Selo,  124. 
Kremlin,  151,  235-237,  257,  314,  333,  337, 

342. 

Krestchatik,  207. 
Kreutzer  Sonata,  196. 
Kronstadt,  56. 
Kulak,  254. 
Kumatch,  189. 
Kumys,  288-310. 
Kuni,  87. 
Kutuzoff,  50. 
Kuzmino,  124,  125. 
Kvas,  1G9,  220,  297. 

Labor,  199. 

Labor  Union,  29. 

Lace,  341. 

Lackey,  13,  49,  89,  96,  190. 

Lake,  118. 

Lamb,  335. 

Lamp,  39,  79,  217,  225. 

Lamp-post,  92. 

Landing,  244. 

Landlord,  5,  11,  78,  107. 

Language,  61,  71,  264. 


Landyshee,  113. 
Lftntern.66,  60,  210. 

Laplander,  57. 

Larkspur,  251. 

Lanurh,  <J3. 

Laundress,  313. 

Lavra,  23,  208,  220. 

Law,  176,  249. 

Law  School,  36. 

Lawn,  119,  190,  255. 

Lay  brethren,  212. 

Lay  sisters,  39. 

Lazarus,  225. 

Laziness,  198. 

Leak, 276. 

Leather,  236,  242,  273,  301,  340,  347. 

Ledger,  68. 

Legation,  American,  10,  74. 

Leipzig,  75. 

Lemon,  296,  306. 

Lenten,  97. 

L6shi,  264. 

Letters,  7. 

Levin,  160. 

Liberty,  172, 173. 

Library,  34,  70,  122,  155. 

License,  67. 

Lieutenant,  272. 

Life,  66. 

Likatchi,  99.    . 

Lilacs,  116,  157. 

Lilies,  113,  260. 

Linden,  144,  161,  166,  167,  257,  270,  278. 

Line.     See  Lineika. 

Lineika,  169,  203,  271,  272,  283. 

Linen,  113,   122,  133,  158,  188,  241,  242, 

256,  268,  294,  328,  353. 
Liquor,  102. 
Literary,  12. 
Literature,  61. 
Lithuanian,  210. 
Little  bird,  266. 
Little  boy,  266. 
Little  Russia,  31,  114,  203-205,  209,  233, 

Liturgy,  51,  115,  213,  329. 

Liver,  146,  197,  306. 

Lives,  220. 

Lodgings,  4,  11,211. 

Log  Chouses,  25,  187,  189,  251,  267,268, 

Lombardy.     See  Poplar. 
Lomonosoff,  6. 
Lomovoi,  29. 
London,  62,  70. 
Looking  Backward,  192. 
Loom,  269. 
Lord,  226,  238. 
Lord  Chancellor,  67. 
Love,  189. 
Luck,  150,  260. 
Luggage,  241,  250,  286. 
Lukerya,  258,  259. 
Lumber-yard,  31,  292,  293. 
Lungs,  305,  306. 
Lutheran,  9,  44,  327. 
Luxury,  193. 


364 


INDEX. 


Lyceum,  36, 116. 
Lye,  302. 

Madame.  80. 

Magazine,  63,  71,  74. 

Maid,  107,  191.  258. 

Makary,  336. 

Mangling,  269. 

Manure,  113,  203,  254,  269. 

Manuscript,  68,  196. 

Mare,  239,  298,  299,  301-308. 

Market,  35,  38,  111,  211,  236,  257,  267, 

308,  309,  315. 
Market,  Louse,  143,  145. 
Market,  Pushing,  143,  145. 
Mark  Tapley,  173. 
Marriage,  174,  175,  179,  180,  269. 
Married  women,  187. 
Martin  Chuzzlewit,  173. 
Martyrs,  315. 
Masque  noir,  61. 

Mass,  57, 130, 185, 228.    See  also  Liturgy. 
Massage,  268. 
Mast,  121,  124. 
Mastic,  84. 
Matchmaker,  120. 
Matins,  216. 

Matushka,  145,  234,  235,  343. 
Mazeppa,  209,  219. 
Meadow,  192. 

Meat,  144,  219.     See  also  Beef. 
Medal,  231,  301. 
Medicine,  259. 
Melilot,  154. 
Melodies,  194. 
Merchant,  35,  79,  80,  105,  108,  110,  118, 

138,  144,  223,  224,   233,  236,  279,  337, 

341,  342. 

Metropolitan,  23,  57,  58,  219,  221,  326. 
Mikado,  108. 
Mik^shin,  33. 
Mikhtf,  104,  105,  298. 
Militia,  91. 
Milk,  125,  177,  218,  269,  296,  298,   299, 

301-304. 

Milk-bottle,  257. 
Milkmaid,  302. 
Mill,  245,  254,  258. 
Millet,  251. 
Milliner,  262,  271. 
Milton,  262,  271. 
Mines,  244. 

Minister,  93,  151,  184,  271. 
Ministry,  58,  59. 
Minsk,  230-233. 
Misha,  263. 
Missionary,  201. 
Mitre,  57. 

Modistka,  262.     See  Milliner. 
Moika,  52,  54. 
Molodyetz,  312. 
Monastery,  23,  25,  28,  39,  41,  138,  205, 

208,   209,  212-214,   216-219,   222,   223, 

226-228,  233,  320,  324,  353. 
Monk,  39,  51,  54,  209,  211-212,  214,  215, 

218-223,  226-228. 
Monument,  33,  50,  58,  131. 


Moon,  190,  279,  282,  283. 

Moorish,  293. 

Moose,  262. 

Mordviuian,  263,  264. 

Mormon,  172,  173. 

Mosaic,  230. 

Moscow,  vii,  17,19,  27,  35,  51,  63,  70-72, 

88,  92,  106,  134,  144,  146,  149,  162,  184, 

227, 236,  257,  271, 305, 311-329,  333,  337, 

339,  340,  348,  355. 
Moslem,  238. 
Mosque,  237,  315,  347. 
Moss,  268,  292,  317. 
Mother,  206,  222. 
Mother  Earth,  Damp,  234. 
Mourning,  189. 
Mowing,  159. 
Muezzin,  347. 
Mollah,  348. 
Mullein,  205. 
Munchausen,  Baron,  15. 
Murder,  183,  185,  195. 
Murman,  38. 
Murom.     See  Ilya. 
Muscovy,  314. 

Museum,  Moscow  Historical,  viii. 
Mushrooms,  115,  134,  168,  218,  241,  256, 

260,  261,  263. 
Music,  v,  230,  258,  332,  346.     See  also 

Singing ;  Song. 
Mussulman,  348. 
Muzhik,  40,  57,  104,  141,  271. 

Names,  314. 

Nantucket,  317. 

Napoleon  I.,  viii,  32. 

Natalya  Ilinitchna,  191. 

National,  122. 

Naval,  306. 

Naval  Academy,  245. 

Navy,  245,  272. 

Necklace,  300. 

Negroes,  332. 

Nekrasoff,  173. 

Net,  48,  121,  278. 

Nettles,  268. 

Neva,  22,  24,  30,  31,  49,  54,  55,  84,  92. 

Ne"vsky  Prospect,  vii,  22-60,  92. 

New  England,  102,  300. 

Newspapers,  41,  64,  75,  183,  184. 

New  Year,  92. 

New  York,  62,  65,  70,  91,  231,  315. 

Niagara,  241. 

Niche,  222. 

Nicholas  I.,  32,  58, 176,  272. 

Nicholas  II.,  92. 

Nightingale,  234,  331. 

Nights,  30,  118,  246. 

Nihilism,  64. 

Nikon,  138. 

Nitchevo,  65,  104. 

Nizhni  Novgorod,  149,  235,  244,  290,  330- 

349. 

Nobility,  53,  129,  163. 
Noble,  205,  254,  280,  281,  285,  344. 
Nogai  Tartars,  292. 
Nose-bleed,  305. 


INDEX. 


3G5 


Novels,  7G. 

Novgorod  (Old),  22,  30,  205. 

Novo-Dyevitche,  42. 

Numbers,  313. 

Nun,  40,  51,  227,  296,  325,  326. 

Nurses,  45,  121,  100,  318. 

Nyeiu<$tzky,  223. 

Oak,  117,  154. 

Oak,  damp,  234. 

Oats,  251,  205,  308. 

Octagon,  210. 

Officer,  44,  48,  99,  184,  211,  241,  245,  266, 

334. 

Official,  182,  251,  323,  324. 
Officials,  5,  41,  G4,  07,  72,  73,  82,  130,  271. 
Oil,  216,  218,  227. 
Oka,  149,  333,  340,  343. 
Oldenburg,  32. 
Oleg,  205. 
Onion,  113,  298. 
Opera,  120. 
Orchard,  222. 
Order,  44,  231. 
Orenburg,  36,  45,  291. 
Organs,  v,  230. 
Organists,  v. 
Oriental,  236,  339,  340. 
Orloff,  24,  48. 

Orthodox,  153,  211,  228,  238,  327,  329. 
Osip,  261,  271,  282. 
Ostrovsky,  79,  286. 
Ot(5tz  kaznatch&,  212. 
Oven,  126,  189,  198,  267-269,  282,  292. 
Overcoat,  44,  122. 
Overland,  338,  340. 
Overshoes,  89.     See  Galoshes. 
Oxen,  282. 
Oysters,  44. 

Paddle,  269. 

Pads,  47. 

Pagan,  285. 

Pages'  Corps,  36. 

Palace,  94,  97, 102, 121,  124,  213,  221,  234, 

269. 
Palace,  Anitohkoff,  26-28,  31,  49,  58,  92, 

315. 
Palace,  Winter,  24,  32,  50,  53,  57,  59,  92, 

99,  116-118,  122. 
Palace,  Michael,  95. 
Pall,  42. 

Palms,  37.     See  Pussy  Willows. 
Palm  Sunday,  36,  123,  269. 
Pan,  126. 
Pane,  84. 
Papert,  214. 
Parade,  94. 
Paris,  183. 
Parish,  314. 

Park,  32,  91,  103,  117,  127,  157,  167,  208. 
Paskha,  37. 

Passport,  1,  16,  19,  182,  344. 
Passport  office,  12,  15. 
Pastils,  36. 
Pasture,  298,  299. 
Patriarch,  138,  326. 


Paul  I.  (Pavel  Petrovitch),  24. 

feace  doctrine,  161. 

Peace,  War  and.     See  War  and  Peace. 

Peaches,  336. 

Peacock,  273,  340. 

Peanut,  273. 

Pears,  114. 

Peasant,  13,  30,  54,  60,  85,  111,  122,  125, 
128,  159,  162,  163,  171,  177,  179-181, 
189,  190,  197,  198,  204,  211,  215,  216, 
220,  228,  242,  247,  252,  257,  259,  261, 
265,  268,  270,  274,  280,  281,  285,  292, 
310,  319,  351,  352. 

Peddler,  133,  237,  238,  240. 

Pelisse,  242,  253. 

Pen,  62. 

Pentecost,  115. 

Perfume,  244. 

Persia,  56,  88,  91. 

Periin,  258. 

P(5ski,  54. 

Peter  I.  (Great),  23,  26,  52,  55,  102,  138, 
163,  219,  222,  257,  272,  279,  311. 

Peter  HI.,  23. 

Peterhoff,  91,  99,  101,  107. 

Peter  and  Paul's  day,  187. 

Peter-Paul  fortress,  24. 

Petroleum,  241. 

Petticoat,  3,  188, 189,  258.  300. 

Pews,  v. 

Philosopher,  156,  238. 

Photographer,  345,  346. 

Photographs,  20,  285,  345. 

Physician,  293.     See  Doctor. 

Piano,  167,  334,  335. 

Picnic,  263,  271,283. 

Picture,  holy.     See  Ikona. 

Pigeons,  25,  50. 

Pilgrim,  152,  153,  176,  185,  217,  218,  226, 
28,  326,  327. 

Pilgrimage,  206,  216. 

Pillow,  241,  294. 

Pine,  203,  261,  263. 

Pinks,  265. 

Piotr,  274-281. 

Pipe-bowls,  339. 

Pistol,  282. 

Pitcher,  295.    See  Ewer. 

Plague,  270. 

Plain,  252. 

Plants,  84,  104,  285. 

Playground,  121. 

Pletuschka,  250. 

Plot,  93. 

Plow,  283. 

Plum,  114,  291. 

Plumber,  231. 

Plume-grass,  208,  299,  305. 

Pocket,  284. 

Podol,  211. 

Poet,  205.     See  Lomondsoff. 

Poker,  6,  205. 

Poland,  114,  209,  327,  328. 

Poles,  222. 

Police,  1,  7,  9,  14,  18,  46,  91,  94,  95,  98, 
152,  347. 

Police,  chief  of,  7. 


366 


INDEX. 


Police  office,  16,  17,  20,  66,  208,  246,  326, 

344,  345. 
Polish,  210. 
Pond,  1G7,  191. 
Pope,  209. 
Poplar,  205. 
Poppies,  115. 
Poppy-seeds,  234. 
Porcelain,  339. 
Porter,  332.      See    also    Yard  Porter; 

Dv6rnik. 
Portrait,  285. 

Post-boy,  246-248,  252.     See  Yamtschik. 
Post-house,  152,  247,  274. 
Post-office,  1,  6-21. 
Pot,  126,  268,  269. 
Potato,  123,  218,  307. 
Pote^nkin.  32,  34. 
Pottery,  354. 
Poverty,  200. 
Power  of  Darkness,  185. 
Pravoslavny,  214,  231,  234.  See  Orthodox. 
Prayer,  39,  42,  57,  117, 128,  131, 177,  178, 

214-216,  219,  251,  269,  278,  320,  324, 

326,  331,  347. 
Prefect,  4,  8,  48. 

Price,  29,  77,  78,  88,  308,  309,  316,  334. 
Priest,  41,  138,  228,  231,  232,  262,  263, 

285,  321,  326. 
Primogeniture,  163. 
Prince,  22,  23,  30-33,  181,  186,  205,  213, 

218,  221,  222,  230,  234,  249,  250,  256, 

314,  315,  317,  323,  324,  342. 
Princess,  33,  78,  329. 
Printing,  211. 
Prisoners,  155,  184. 
Prisons,  34,  135. 
Profession,  344. 
Propaganda,  183. 
Property,  196,  199,  200. 
Proprietor,  204,  252,  256. 
Proscribed,  64. 
Prosfora,  215,  216. 
Protestants,  230,  327. 
Provincial  assemblies,  280. 
Provisions,  84,  273. 
Pse-tz,  87. 
Publisher,  195. 
Punch,  62. 
Purgatory,  224. 
Purity,  225. 
Pushkin,  116. 
Pussy  willow,  36,  123,  269. 

Quays,  29,  49,  57. 

Raccoon,  44. 

Race,  viii,  316, 

Rac-ing-gig,  272. 

R'ulish,  114. 

Rail,  31. 

Railway,  102,  293,  336,  355. 

Rain,  84,  349. 

R  linfall,  308. 

Raisins,  113,  340. 

R  inks,  table  of,  ix,  272. 

Raspberries,  110,  186,  241,  244. 


Rastrelli,  31,  52. 

Rat,  Siberian,  89. 

Rawhide,  338. 

Razumovsky,  31. 

Ready-made,  273. 

Reaping,  256. 

Red  Forest,  263,  293. 

Reef,  243. 

Refectory,  219. 

Regiment,  94,  184. 

Registration,  4. 

Reindeer,  23,  28,  o7. 

Relay,  249,  253. 

Religion,  v,  230,  232 

Religions,  175,  176. 

Remembrance,  eternal,  214. 

Re"pin,  159. 

Restaurant,  41,  297. 

Resurrection,  315. 

Revolutionary,  183. 

Rheumatism,  259. 

Rhitiowa,  22. 

Rick-yard,  283. 

Ritual,  138.     See  Mass;  Liturgy. 

Ritualists,  Old,  347.    See  Believers,  Old. 

Robber,  234. 

Robe,  211. 

Rock-crystal,  59. 

Rolling-pin,  269. 

Roman  Catholic,  325,  327,  347. 

,  Romanoff,  186. 

Rome,  209. 

Rope,  250,  257,  268,  278,  284,  292. 

Rosary,  337,  338,  341. 

Rows,  337,  338,  341. 

Ruble,  135,  197,  207,  338. 

Rug,  85,  210-212,  233,  263,  264,  278,  279. 
334. 

Rurik,  30. 

Russia.  See  Little  Russia;  South  Rus- 
sia. 

Rybinsk,  274,  353. 

Rye,  168,  251,  282,  308. 

Saari,  102. 

Sable,  36,  87. 

Sack,  258,  300. 

Sacramental,  216. 

Sailor,  55,  118,  121. 

Saint,  209,  210,  216,  219,  220,  225,  227, 

230,  251 ,  314,  322,  325,  326. 
St.  Alexander  Ne"  vsky,  23,  30. 
St.  Antony,  221,  223,  225,  227. 
St.  Fedosy,  214,  221,  226. 
St.  George,  44,  92,  315. 
St.  Ilya,    128,   258.      See    also  Ilya   of 

Murom. 
St.  Isaac,  51,  29. 
St.  John,  225,  314,  315. 
St.  Makary,  336,  338. 
St.  Nicholas,  232,  314,  315. 
St.  Pantale-imon,  321,  322. 
St.  Patrick,  91. 
St.  Peter,  50. 

St.  Peter  and  Paul,  24,  115. 
St.  Petersburg,  vli,  2,  17,  18,  22,  51,  56, 

61,   63,  66,  70-72,  74,  85,  91,  98,   99, 


INDEX. 


367 


305, 


St.  Sergiusj  321. 
St.  .s  .,,|,ia,  228. 

LJ  .          I  '  i 


«t-  VasU,,  ... 

St.  Veronica,  39. 

St.  Vladimir.  213.  221.  229 

Salmon,  298. 

Salt,  84. 

Samara,  273,  289-292. 

Samarcaml,  2;>3. 


,         . 

ture,  s,  14,  18,  323,  324 


|  Kin,  116,  21 
I  Bind  bad,  3. 


279, 


Sample,  338. 

S.iiiigou,  107. 

S .in.l,  54,  84.     See  George  Sana. 

Sandbank,  240,  276,  290. 

SaiuLspit,  277,  338,  340. 

Sanitary,  286,  338. 

Sarpink'a,  340. 

Saviour,  39,  139,  221,  321 

Saytchas,  240,  243,  249. 

Sbiten,  144. 

Scheremt5tieff,  28. 

School,  130,  165,  176,  266,  318. 

School,  Sunday,  165. 

Schoolboy,  41. 

Schoolhouse,  254. 

Scum,  278. 

Scurvy,  306. 

Sea,  245,  252. 

Seal,  63. 

Sealskin,  86. 

Season,  294. 

Secretary,  184. 

Sseds,  119. 

Seed-corn,  265. 

Seraph,  28,  51,  210. 

Serf,  5,  108,  129,  254,  260,  266. 

Serf,  crown,  12'J. 

Serfdom,  233,  280. 

Sergiei,  Grand  Duke,  27,  28 

Sermon,  51. 

^Wofshfa'  See  MaSS ''  Litur9lf : Ritual 

Sewer,  207,'  217. 

Sewing-machines,  285. 

Shakers,  174,  175. 

Sharpshooters,  118 

Shawl,  36,  39,  45,  339. 

She,  172. 

Sheep,  282. 

Sheep-dog,  45,  335. 

Sheepskin,  40,  47,  144,  189,  215,  242.    See 

Sheets,  104,  112,  246. 

Shepherd,  132 

Shibboleth,  6. 

Sll2ig'  47'  145>   171,  242,   250,  256,   275, 

Shoes,  257,  270. 

Shrine,  176,  217,  225,  326,  327. 

Shuba,  36,  48,  96,  101.      ' 


. 

[Singers,  119,  214,  335. 
Singing,  213,  296.  312. 
Skates,  57. 
Skating,  28. 
Skull,  225,  227,  228. 


Sleep,  189 


blushaiu's,  96, 

Smoking,  338. 

Snobbishness,  146 

Snow,  46,  48,  50,  84 

Soap,  239. 

Socialists,  179. 

Soldiers,  44,  119,  184,  266,  331 

'  ' 


'  ^  279' 


Soul,  216,  224. 
Soul-warmers,  45. 

ISh^cl18'271'277'278'28'- 


Spear,  215. 
Spice,  144,  277. 
Spice-cakes,  350,  351. 
Spies,  14. 

pire,  50,  102,  210,  229 

piraea,  154. 

pirits,  115. 

ponsors,  231,233. 
Spoon,  193,  216,  269. 

prmg,  60,  86,  101,  237,  250,  257 

S,n9e'127'217'245'm' 

table,  161,  255. 
tamp,  17,  21,  69,  72 
tar,  28,  210. 
tarchy,  305. 


e"nka  Raziu,  279. 
Jepniak,  64 


Sickles,  2oV! 


Ste 

*3-*.^v,  A.  ij.,  z.iu— —i\y. 

eward,  254.  266. 
ewardess,  351,  353. 
Stirrup,  47,  250. 


. 

Stove,  85. 

Strada,  257.    See  Suffering. 

Strangers,  346.  W 

Strap,  48. 

Straw,  248,  249,  254,  268,  283. 


368 


INDEX. 


Strawberry,  110,  133,  161,  305,  306,  317. 

Stroganoff,  52. 

Stry«Hki,  118,  119. 

Stucco,  25,  291. 

Studena,  44. 

Student,  179,  182. 

Studieff ,  214. 

Study,  195. 

Sudarynya,  80,  110,  224. 

Suffering  season,  198.     See  Stradd. 

Sugar,  298. 

Sumach,  205. 

Sumbeka,  237. 

Summer,  60,  69,  91,  101,  148,  206,  213, 

260,  330,  334. 
Sun,  41. 
Sun,  Fair,  234. 
Sunday,  116,  145,  284,  346. 
Sunflower,  119,  218,  273,  282. 
Superstitions,  285. 
Suzdal,  138. 
Swaddling,  319. 
Swing,  x. 

Swiss,  52,  96,  98,  312,  314. 
Syeunaya  Ploshtschad,  38. 
Symbolic,  215. 
Symbols,  25. 
Synagogue,  327. 

Tableaux,  97. 

Tales,  155,  157,  158,  181. 

Tapers.     See  Candles. 

Tarautas,  250. 

Taras  Bulba,  208. 

Taster,  299. 

Tatar,  viii,  3,  43,  52,  106,  108,  145,  222, 
236,  237,  239-242,  284,  285, 292, 297, 299, 
301,  305,  315,  331,  340,  342,  347. 

Tatar  beauty,  299. 

Tatiana,  191,  216. 

Tax,  52. 

Tchernigoff,  221,  234. 

Tchernitzi,  39. 

Tchernozyom,  203.     See  Black  Earth. 

Tchiuovinki,  263. 

Tchuvashi,  251,  264,  284,  286. 

Tea,  3,  110,  157,  161,  164,  167,  187,  191, 
216,  240,  247,  268,  279,  285,  296,  301, 
306,  313,  314,  331,  338,  340,  342,  343. 

Tea-cloth,  241. 

Tea-kettle,  215. 

Tea-money,  130,  157,  213,  238  253,  274, 
282. 

Teapot,  247,  285. 

Teat,  257. 

Te  Deum,  95. 

Teeth,  187,  300. 

Telegram,  68. 

Telegraph,  250. 

Telyt5ga,  257,  261,  264. 

Tent,  278. 

Termalama,  340. 

Teutonic  order,  22. 

Thackeray,  173. 

Thatch,  248,  251,  268,  269. 

Thfintre,  33,  34,  53,  56,  67,  88,  120,  352, 
353. 


i  The  ft,  261. 
Theological,  322. 
Thermometer,  140,  141,  164,  316. 
Thibet,  48,  87. 
Thou,  281. 
Thunder,  258. 
Thunderstorm,  276,  286. 
Tile,  85. 
Titles,  144,  342. 
Tolerance,  43. 
Tolstoy,  66,  122,  134,  148-204,  235,  236, 

253,  255,  351. 

Tolstoy,  Countess,  136,  148-204. 
Tomb,  209. 
Toothache,  305. 
Towel,  104,  220,  268,  276,  282. 
Tow-path,  281,  288. 
Toys,  37. 
Trade,  344. 
Train,  149,  203,  206. 
Traktir,  103,  106,  108. 
Tramp,  152. 
Tramway,  45. 
Transfiguration,  114,  262. 
Trap,  105. 
Traveler,  vii,  viii,  12,  13,  60, 103,  205,  218, 

243,  315,  318,  337. 
Treasury,  323. 
Trickery,  249,  340. 
Trinity,  115,  315,  322. 
Troika,  49,  56,  152,  251,  272. 
Troitzky,  28. 
Trousers,   133,   141,   158,   242,   269,  275, 

285. 

Trunk,  241. 

Tula,  138,  148, 149,  155,  157. 
Tulip,  283. 

Tuliip,  40,  47,  140,  242.     . 
Turanian,  242,  284. 
Turban,  347. 
Turgenetf,  181,  256. 
Turkey,  138,  238. 
Turkish,  118,  120,  177,  252. 
Turks,  236. 
Types,  337. 

Tzar,  22,  52,  60,  272,  311,  314. 
Tzare"vitch,  124. 
Tzarskoe  Sela,  99,  101,  132. 

Ufa,  292. 

Ukha,  271,  278. 

Umbrella,  50,  253,  263,  307. 

Underclothing,  86. 

Undiscovered  Country,  174. 

Uniates,  209. 

Uniform,  41,  91,  204,  245,  266,  319,  330, 

University,  182,  222,  236,  331. 
Ural,  52,  236,  244,  340,  342. 
Usurers.     See  Kulak. 
Utopia,  193. 

Valley,  251,  253. 

Vanity,  339. 

Vanka,  46,  54,  83,  105,  151,  153,  157,  238. 

Vasily,  47,  171,  172. 

Vasily  6-strolf ,  43,  83. 


INDEX. 


369 


3,  115,  107. 
Vegetable  diet,  146, 177,  197. 
v.-ii.  i:;.  211. 

Velvet,  42,  47,  87,  242,  246,  290,  300,  325. 
Velveteen,  41. 
Vender,  109,  111. 
Venice,  339. 
Ventilation,  293,  338. 
Ventilator,  84. 
Veranda,  255,  293,  336. 
V«§rbnaya  Yarmarka,  36. 
Veronica,  St.,  39. 
\>r»t,  246,  312. 
Vespers,  216. 
Vestments,  41,  51,57,  219. 
Villa,  101,  103.     See  Datcha. 
Village,  x,  101,  111,  124,  130,  133,   189, 

190,  244,  251-253,  256,  260,    267,  f" 

•271,  -J73,  280,  349. 
Vint,  41. 

Viollet-le-Duc,  354. 
Virgin,  50,  51,  117,  128, 129,  216,  217,  222, 

230,  260,  320-322,  327. 
Vladimir,   23,  213,  221,    327.       See    St. 

Vladimir. 
Voditchka,  186. 

Vodka,  134-136,  143,  171,  239,  274,  275. 
Vodyanoi,  264. 
Voice,  190,  255. 
Volga,  114,  149,  235-243,  245,  252,  256, 

2(i3,  271,  273,  279,  289,  290,  293,  298, 

330-336,  340,  348-354. 
V>azemsky,  36,  351.     See  Cake. 
Vyborg,  36. 

Wadding,  84,  317. 

Waiter,  3,  104,  105,  108,  141,  236,  298, 

W  ill/The'lndestructible,  230. 

Wapta,  161. 

War,  54,  93,  177,  238,  245. 

War  and  Peace,  163,  166,  191. 

Warsaw,  14,  34,  121. 

Washing,  30,  52,  191. 

Washing  babies,  318,  319. 

Washstand,  104,  286,  294. 

Washtub,  269,  354. 

Water,  holy,  39. 

Water-king.     See  Vodyandi. 

Watermelon,  39,  281,  286,  291,  332. 


Wattle,  101,161,189,251,  270. 

Weasel,  207. 

Weaver,  162. 

Wedding,  92,  120,  188. 

Wells,  2-Jti. 

West,  230,  339. 

Western,  58,  123,  206,  210,  236,  265. 

Wharf,  237,  239,  240,  241,  281,  287,  291, 

292,348,349,351. 
What  to  Do  ?  174,  186,  195. 
Wheat,  251,  282,  308. 
Wheelbarrow,  241. 
Whist,  41. 
Whistling,  123. 
White  Town,  318,  320. 
Whitsunday,  115. 
Willow,  154,  276,  277. 
Windlass,  282. 

Windsor,  84,  125,  187,  268,  317. 
Wine,  215,  234,  303,  304,  306. 
Winter,  36,  41,  84,  86,  89,  94,  198,  200, 

206,  242,  316. 
Wirballen,  2. 
Wolves,  262,  265,  282. 
Wood,  31,  85,  203,  210,  261,  269. 
Wood-king.     See  Leshi. 
Wood-yard,  273. 
Wool,  135,  140,  141. 
Worship,  348. 
Writer,  173. 
Wylie,  6. 

Yakoff  Petrovitch,  94,  98. 

Yamtschik,  250,  253,  274.  See  also  Post- 
boy. 

Yankee,  105. 

Yard  porter,  85,  313.  See  also  Dv6r- 
nik. 

Yaroslaff,  221,  355. 

Yaroslavl,  105,  353-355. 

Yarrow,  154. 

Yasnaya  Polyana,  134,  148-204. 

Yay  Bogu,  80,  249,  250,  260. 

Yeast,  193,  194,  301. 

Yerniak,  52. 

Zakharoff,  55. 
Zhiryokha,  271,  276. 
Znamenskaya,  25,  51. 
Zulus,  183. 


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